I'm going to take this opportunity to disagree with some of my fellow bloggers (and readers who have commented) on the NARAL ad. I believe that the ad should stand and remain on the air.
For me, the crux of the issue is that Roberts and his cronies in the Bush White House spent time and energy filing a "Friend of the Court" brief to argue that Federal discrimination laws shouldn't be applied to Operation Rescue because their blockades of abortion clinics didn't just block women, they also blocked men. (Because so many men need abortions I suppose?)
On the issue of law, Roberts may have been technically correct. However, this was a lawsuit that the US federal government was not party to, and yet in they ran in to try and make Operation Rescue's life easier.
What did Roberts know about Operation Rescue back in 1991 when he went to bat for them? Let's just take a couple of Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry's quotes from the era:
''No court can prohibit us from rescuing babies. These judges have joined the heritage of Nazi judges who sanctioned the murders of the innocent.'' (5/22/1990 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch)It is completely relevant that Roberts supported Operation Rescue, an entirely fringe group on the Radical Right. Had the US Federal government been party to the case, I could understand that briefs would have to be filed and a position would have to be taken.
''In 30 years, we're going to have forced abortion,'' he said. ''I can already write the decision about how in a society with limited resources we can only accommodate the needs of the most by limiting each family to two babies. You say that's farfetched, but what would you have said 30 years ago if I'd told you we would be killing 1.5 million babies a year, and having Gay Pride Week and AIDS and no prayer in public schools? The feminists got what they wanted, but are women better off with pornography and no-fault divorce and irresponsible fathers who don't pay child support? I don't think so.'' (6/11/1990 - New York Times)
This was not the case. In fact, interjecting the Administration into this fight was totally voluntary. Roberts involvement in this case shows just how extreme his views are, and how far outside mainstream American political thinking he is.
The Federal government came in and gave a tacit nod to Operation Rescue by helping call off the Judiciary dogs. The leash got too long and the results were tragic. Roberts and company knew exactly the kind of people they were dealing with, and chose to support them. The public deserves to know that, and for that reason I believe that the ad should have remained on the air.
