David Brooks wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times today basically stating that Roe Vs. Wade has destroyed politics in this country. In some respects, he is right. It seems as though every political decision made by Republicans is designed to undermine abortion rights, while every political decision made by Democrats is designed to keep them in place. Politics, as a result, have become the push and pull of two extremist positions. He argues that the country has never had the democratic debate concerning abortion that we need to have, and I agree. There is something terribly wrong with his argument, however. Brooks blames all of this on the Supreme Court, arguing that the legislature should have been responsible for hammering out a reasonable compromise on this issue- by doing so, he is making the assumption that Congress would have been capable of doing so. I don�t think Republicans in Congress right now would ever allow such an open debate to take place. I also don�t think most Democrats are as staunchly against placing limitations on abortion as Brooks argues. Democrats in the House and Senate are just very leery of Republicans taking a foot each time they are given an inch. The problem is not with the Supreme Court, it is with Republican lawmakers who refuse to see abortion as anything more than a black and white issue. By keeping the debate on such stark terms, any compromise on the issue is impossible. Historically, the Republican party has been for smaller federal government and greater states� rights. Over the past twelve years or so, this has changed. Today, Republicans are merely a political offshoot of the Religious Right. They kowtow to bible thumpers at every turn- be it on abortion, homosexuals, evolution, or Terri Schiavo. There is another legal debate going on right now about the morning after pill. Religious groups recently succeeded in their attempt to make it lawful for a pharmacist to refuse filling a prescription for the morning after pill if they feel it is morally wrong. So basically a pharmacist- who�s job it is to provide legally prescribed drugs- can now refuse to do so because it doesn�t mesh with their religious beliefs. I�m sorry, but if you don�t feel right prescribing drugs, you shouldn�t be a pharmacist. If I were a vegetarian, how well do you think it would go over if I got a job at MacDonald�s and refused to serve anyone hamburgers? What irks me about all of this is that people like David Brooks refuse to see this. Religious conservatives want nothing more than to force their views and beliefs on the rest of the country, and because they help them get elected, Republicans are more than happy to oblige- totally disregarding as to whether or not it�s the right thing to do. I was never a huge fan of John Kerry, but I gained a huge amount of respect for him during one of the debates. An audience member asked him in a roundabout way his stance on abortion. Instead of answering her question, which he could have done (and thereby side-stepped the issue) he said, �I think what you�re really asking about is abortion, so I�ll tell you how I feel about that. I�m Catholic. I don�t believe in abortion. However, I also realize that not everyone shares my personal beliefs and it is not my job to legislate my beliefs on you.� I�m paraphrasing here, but in that one sentence, he summed up the reasons why I voted for him. This is getting pretty long winded, but the point I�m trying to make is that if you don�t believe in abortion, don�t get one. Its that simple. What everyone else does is not your concern. David Brooks, religious zealots and Republicans don�t seem to understand that- or, more likely, don�t want to accept it. Religious conservatives tend to be overly pre-occupied with everyone else�s lives. Don�t believe in abortion? Then keep the baby. Think homosexuality is a sin? Then don�t date people of the same sex. You just worry about you, and let everyone else worry about themselves. I am willing to bet that you�ve got enough things in your life to worry about without trying to tackle what you perceive as everyone else�s sins. I for one certainly don�t need, or appreciate, other people telling me how to live my life.

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