Religious Right Can't Agree On The Definition of "Good News"

Apparently, some Christianists are pissed that the recent Supreme Court ruling doesn't really make "late-term" abortions illegal, it just makes it more difficult for a woman to obtain one in her time of need.: "Banning an Abortion Procedure Because It Protects Womens' Health"

These groups are especially angry with Focus on the Family, one of the anti-abortion groups that sponsored the ban and that has most prominently celebrated Carhart.

What is important for present purposes is the response of Focus on the Family to this criticism by its erstwhile allies that the federal law will not prevent abortions.

Nonsense, says Focus's Vice President, Tom Minnery:

"The old procedure [standard D&E], which is still legal, involves using forceps to pull the baby apart in utero, which means there is greater legal liability and danger of internal bleeding from a perforated uterus. So we firmly believe there will be fewer later-term abortions as a result of this ruling."

Got that? The Court upheld the law because the remaining unregulated procedure might be just as safe. Yet according to Focus on the Family, the remaining procedure is markedly less safe for the mother, and that's precisely why the law is a good thing -- because it leaves in place only a procedure that carries a higher risk of danger of internal bleeding from a perforated uterus . . . which in turn leads to "greater legal liability" for the doctors, and, as a result, fewer abortions.

Score one for candor.