by Bill O'Reilly
Note: Bill O'Reilly is the host of the “O'Reilly Factor,” a nightly news analysis program on the Fox News Channel. He also is the author of No Spin Zone, a best selling political opinion book.
If you don't believe the American family is under siege by some very
powerful forces, please continue reading. The American Civil Liberties
Union, Planned Parenthood and some powerful politicians — most notably
Hillary Clinton — are on a jihad to pass laws allowing underage girls to
have abortions without parental consent.
The ACLU took out a full-page ad in The New York Times, basically saying
that without such a law, underage girls will harm themselves in their
quest to get rid of unwanted babies. And there is some truth to that. Some
troubled teenagers who are afraid of parental reaction will take desperate
measures.
But a sane society does not undermine the authority of parents by
inserting laws allowing children to make complex decisions on their own.
That is not harm reduction, that will cause familial chaos. I mean, how
crazy is this? In many places a minor can't get his or her ears pierced
without parental consent. But a kid can get an abortion on her own? It's
outrageous.
A few days ago, I received a letter from a woman named Carol who lives in
Idaho and who is absolutely distraught. “A pro-choice agency created an
opportunity for our teenage daughter to have an abortion without our
consent. The only way we found out is that someone called the house to ask
how she was feeling. The organization did not speak with us and did not
give us a chance to counsel our daughter and tell her how much we love
her. You destroy a nation when you destroy family accountability.”
In my years as a journalist, I have seen many wrong-headed attempts to
impose laws but none as dangerous as allowing minors to have abortions
without telling their folks. Just think about it. The kid comes home after
the procedure and everything is back to normal? She doesn't have any
emotional residue? What happens if she has psychological problems because
of the abortion? Or physical problems? And her parents and siblings have
no idea what's going on. How cruel and destructive is that?
There comes a time in every society when good people have to rise up and
protect the greater good. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood cannot defend
the collateral damage done to the family when a kid has a secret abortion,
so instead they try to make it a “body” issue. The girl has a right to
“control her body.”
So following that line of reasoning, any kid in America can have sex with
any adult. No wonder the ACLU is defending the North American Man-Boy Love
Association in a Massachusetts lawsuit.
Senator Hillary Clinton is a strong proponent of kids being able to get
secret abortions. Of course, Mrs. Clinton does not answer questions about
her positions so it is impossible to know how she justifies her stance.
But I believe the overwhelming majority of American parents see the
drastic threat that any legislation of this kind poses to the family. If
the government takes away the rights of parents to control their
children's actions, then we are finished as an independent society. I
don't know about you, but I don't want some judge telling me my young
daughter can have a procedure that may drastically change her life without
my knowing about it. Call me crazy.
The forces of darkness that want to allow kids to have secret abortions
are not evil people in my judgment. Their logic is based on trying to
protect abused children and kids who are desperate. But society does
provide safety nets for these kids in the form of school counselors,
religious clergy, and social services. There are also attorneys who
represent children pro-bono. You cannot save every kid, of course, but to
undermine parental authority for the sake of a relatively few kids in
trouble will cause society enormous problems down the road.
It is tough enough these days for parents to teach morality to their kids.
Children see and hear things at a young age that are impossible for them
to understand. Many educators want to teach homosexuality to fourth
graders. They want to explain condoms to sixth graders. They want
individual teachers to give their “takes” on sex, drugs, and rock and
roll. And forget about popular culture — it would make the citizens of
Sodom smile.
So now parents have to deal with yet another threat. But this one is much
more powerful than video-games, permissive educators or trashy movies.
This threat sits there in a black robe and tells you what is legal and
what is not. And if things progress much further, this threat will be
telling your underage daughter that she can ignore you and see a doctor
who will alter her life forever. The stage has been set — all that's left
is for the script to be written.
(This article courtesy of the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)