Blame Crazy Death Panel Claims on the People Making Them, Not Roe vs. Wade, Frank Schaeffer

Frank Schaeffer, former radical right-wing evangelist reborn as a Obama campaigner, occasionally demonstrates that the residue of that conservative ideology remains in his bloodstream. His August 31 LA Times article, “Crazy ‘death panel’ claims? Thank Roe vs. Wade,” reveals a disturbingly “blame-the-victim” mentality.

Rather than blaming anti-health care reform lies on the right-wingers fabricating them, he opts to blame the 1973 Supreme Court decision, saying, “you can thank the hostility to all things government that Roe exacerbated.” The “bitterness over Roe,” he claims, is the only thing that “can explain the paranoia of the evangelical far right.” His proposed solution: overturn Roe vs. Wade, leaving the legality of abortion up to the states. He alleges that practically this would change little, leaving abortion legal in most states, “but half the population would also feel enfranchised and respected.”

Where, oh where, to begin.

The concept that abortion is the source of all the right-wing’s power is a ludicrous oversimplification. No one would argue that it is not a tool the Religious Right uses to manipulate Americans and drum up foaming-at-the-mouth support, but it’s hardly the be-all-end-all. Schaeffer argues, “Every time there is a new effort to curtail gay rights, you can thank Roe.” Yet the beginning of the culture wars had already designated abortion and homosexuality as the two demons for good conservative Christians to target by the time Roe vs. Wade rolled around in ’73.

Another means by which the right gained power would be the Civil Right Acts of the 60s. Causing an exodus from the Democratic to the Republican Party, racial prejudice and fears significantly boosted the power–and paranoia–of the radical right. Does that mean that we should repeal the Civil Rights Act? Even if Roe is a rallying point for right-wingers, that doesn’t mean we should sacrifice justice–the only message that sends is be violent, be unreasonable, and liberals will give you what you want in the hopes that you’ll let some of their other reforms through.

In spite of Roe vs. Wade, abortion is already essentially illegal in many states, where a lack of providers, difficulty of access, and additional restrictions from state laws undermine the spirit of the Supreme Court decision. Overturn Roe, and I expect vast tracts of the South and Midwest will ban abortion altogether, leaving women with little recourse beyond dangerous illegal procedures (we haven’t heard of a lot of deaths by coat hanger since Roe). While anti-choicers might feel self-satisfied and victorious, it sends a clear message of disrespect to women nationwide that they have no right to control their own bodies.

Meanwhile, I find it difficult to believe that, Roe overturned, anti-choice activists will just sit back in their easy chairs and play nice, instead of fighting to ban abortion in each individual state, buoyed by this victory. They will be motivated to achieve the rest of their goals–women’s bodies under their power, they can devote more time to keeping same-sex couples in love from marrying, and to blocking every reform Obama dreamed of.

Schaeffer states he views abortion as an appalling procedure, but since realizing the error of his right-wing ways believes that it should be legal, and that the way to decrease the number of abortions is by providing better support for women to carry to term. I happen not to see abortion in those terms, since I would say that life begins with brain waves between 20 and 27 weeks, past when the majority of abortions are performed (and most at this late date are due to serious medical issues, on the part of the mother or the fetus). Nonetheless, I respect advocates who are both pro-life and pro-choice, like Schaeffer, when they attempt to decrease abortions through prevention (after all, nobody actually wants to undergo a surgical procedure like abortion) or improved family services, which is beneficial regardless of your view on the beginning to life.

These are the people we should be courting and collaborating with, rather than being cowed by anti-abortion extremists who call for the death of doctors and demonize a natural expression of love as a sin. Obama has called for religious progressives to “spread the facts and speak the truth” on health care reform. We can support interfaith work best by not giving in to the far-right factions, by standing on principle, and by not engaging in the typical right-wing parlour game of twisting a decision that protected women’s bodies into something it’s not. Crazy death panel claims are the fault of the unscrupulous right-wing leaders who disseminate them. Let’s not forget that.

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