Candidate Differences: Abortion

As the 2004 Presidential election draws near, the country is split virtually down the center. While we hurl talking points and rhetoric at each other, we still should identify clear differences between these candidates. I’ll try that here, for a single point, and illustrate why I will be voting for Bush. While I’d argue that foreign policy should trump domestic agenda items at this time in our history, I’ll tackle a clear difference between the two candidates, abortion.

Kerry View: Clearly pro-choice. He opposes any measure that restricts a woman’s right to have an abortion in any way, including a ban on partial birth abortion and law requiring parental notification.

Bush View: Clearly pro-life. He supports the ban on partial birth abortion, supports parental notification even including an exception for the case of incest.

My View: I side with Bush on this one. I use science and law for my reasons. Science is unable to tell us when human life begins. It could begin at conception, could begin at birth, science doesn’t make a distinction. Our legal system suggests someone is innocent until proven guilty. Why? Because we would rather let a guilty man go free than put an innocent man in jail. Why don’t we have that same condition for the protection of life under our constitution? If there is a chance that we are killing a human being in the womb during an abortion, why wouldn’t we err on the side of protecting life?