1115.org

Abortion — it remains one of the hottest of hot-button issues, one which fuels an enormous amount of passion on both sides. But even though polls show that a majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-choice, it’s hard to deny that the social conservatives have gotten the upper hand in framing the debate. Armed with slogans such as “the culture of life”, they can rely on a cadre of familiar faces (such as Pat Roberston or Jerry Falwell, to name just two) who are perpetually on-call to the cable talk shows, as well as President Bush to push the message from the bully pulpit. Who do pro-choice people have to represent their beliefs, to spread a cohesive message throughout the media? No one, and that’s why they find themselves continually on the defensive.

What often gets lost in the back-and-forth is how the abortion issue spills over into the issue of birth control; if more people are educated about contraceptive use, the number of unwanted pregnancies will drop, as will the number of abortions. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is himself pro-life, but he recognizes the need to move the abortion debate away from scare tactics and bombast and toward something more productive:

Reid calls for the Passage of “Prevention First” Legislation

“Forty years ago today, the Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut that laid the groundwork for widespread access to birth control for all American women.

“Birth control is a basic part of preventive health care for women. Over the past forty years, increased access to birth control has helped to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion and infant mortality.

“While we have made significant advances over the last forty years, we still have a long way to go. The United States has among the highest rates of unintended pregnancies of all industrialized nations. Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and nearly half of those end in abortion. Making contraception more accessible and affordable is one crucial step toward reducing unintended pregnancies, reducing abortions and improving women’s health.

“We can’t let the pendulum swing backwards. We need to pass legislation like the Prevention First Act (S. 20) that will continue to improve access to contraception and will improve women’s health, reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy and reduce abortions - all while saving scarce public health dollars.”

This is how you go about reframing an issue. All in all, this seems to be the kind of thoughtful, sensible legislation that will reduce the number of abortions without a single protest sign or complaint about liberal judges. And if the social conservatives were only interested in reducing the number of abortions, they would likely be all for this plan. But that’s the rub — the religious right’s agenda goes far beyond abortion to try and regulate sexuality altogether. How else to explain the Bush Administration’s bizarre emphasis on ineffective “abstinence only” sex-ed programs, some of which claim that touching a person’s genitals can result in pregnancy, and that HIV can be spread by sweat and tears? How else to explain a culture where the acting director of the FDA can reject his own agency’s findings and hold back approval on a new form of birth control, for no other reason than its availability “might” cause teens to have sex? How else to explain a culture where pharmacists feel justified in withholding birth control prescriptions because they find the idea distasteful?

Reid’s legislation backs many Republicans into a corner. Vote against it, and you are dooming a common-sense proposal that would actually do something aboout reducing the number of abortions. Vote for it, and prepare to see the religious right go batshit crazy. It’s a tough call, though I would bet that more Republicans out in this great country would rather be having sex than banning it. Just ask Newt Gingrich.