There's a term floating around that I have a feeling was invented as a "God-sanctioned" argument against people who support a pro-choice stance for women facing an unwanted pregnancy.The term is pro-life. What does this term mean? It's certainly not the opposite of pro-choice.
I would like to see our society lessen the number of abortions now taking place. Contraception, education, and a lessening of poverty are some means to that end. But I am also pro-choice. Expressing my belief that life is sacred does not reveal my concurrent belief that a woman should possess a legal right to make choices about her body, including having an abortion.
In framing Harriet Miers' views as pro-life, the White House seems to want to send a message to their conservative Republican base that she will vote to overturn the freedoms set forth in Roe Vs. Wade, while maintaining enough ambiguity so as not to alienate someone like me ... who thinks life is precious, but is also against any legislation that governs how a woman may treat her body.
Harriet Miers can be labeled pro-life until the cows come home. But this doesn't make a statement on how she would vote on issues of privacy, under which abortion falls.
I think a better line of questioning for her in the hearings is not whether or not she believes in the sanctity of life, but whether she would rule to protect a woman's privacy.
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