Scott Walker is proud to be endorsed by both Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin. Intelligent people can disagree on the issue of abortion. Few philosophers have an easy time justifying it on purely ethical terms, and rarely do they do it on terms that would be familiar to the average American voter. Nevertheless, the pro-choice movement has the upper hand on a series of abortion-related issues, including embryonic stem cell research and abortion in cases of rape.
We saw Tom Barrett use the stem cell issue in one TV ad. Like most Democrats, he avoided the term "embryonic," hoping to make the research Walker supports banning seem less controversial than it really is. He and other Democrats should instead approach the issue head-on, and force the GOP to defend the indefensible: That embryos that would otherwise be destroyed should be excluded from research.
In addition, Democrats like Barrett should push the issue of abortion in cases of rape and the health of the mother. Make Republicans ask the following question: Should a woman who is raped not be allowed the option to choose?
Groups like Pro-Life Wisconsin also support extremist positions on contraception. In addition to lobbying against sex education for high school students, which most parents believe is appropriate, Pro-Life's director has stated the group is against contraception...period. That Scott Walker can mention an endorsement from a group like this -- without having to answer to merciless attacks from Democrats -- suggests that Sconnies are either stupid or hate sex. If one of these is true, especially the latter, it's worth losing an election to find it out. It would be an anthropological landmark.
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