Text 14256, 85 rader
Skriven 2005-07-25 16:43:18 av Alan Hess
Ärende: it isn't just abortion
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The right to privacy issue is bigger than just abortion.
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-op.tucker25jul25,1,3473600.story?
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Right to privacy is the true target of U.S. jihadists


By Cynthia Tucker

July 25, 2005

ATLANTA - Let's not waste time fretting over Judge John G. Roberts Jr.'s stance
on abortion. It's most likely that his views on Roe vs. Wade are close to those
of President Bush. After all, the president would hardly have nominated Judge
Roberts to the Supreme Court if his record showed a strong liberal streak.

Rather than focus narrowly on abortion, Americans who believe in individual
rights - that's nearly all of us - should concentrate on Judge Roberts' views
on something even more important: the right to privacy.

If you examine carefully the rantings of those on the extremist edge of the
religious right, you'll see that they make an underlying argument even more
troubling than their absolutist premise that abortion is murder: They argue
that there is no constitutional right to privacy.

If that antediluvian view holds sway, American women will find themselves
living under something akin to Sharia, Quranic law that restricts women's
rights. And men, too, will find their private lives severely curtailed by
government interference. If Americans have no right to privacy, the government
can roam freely about your bedroom, telling you how and when to have sex and
whether you can use a contraceptive.

Forty years ago, Connecticut prohibited the use of contraceptives, even by
married couples. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Connecticut ban in
1965, ruling that it violated a right to privacy inherent in the Constitution.

If you think that's a bit of ancient history, think again. The United States
has its own version of the Taliban.

Though mostly nonviolent - there are exceptions, certainly, such as Eric Robert
Rudolph - they are no different from Islamic extremists who want to force
others to live under their harsh and intrusive 10th-century rules.

Consider the controversy over the morning-after contraceptive called Plan B.
Overruling the advice of two advisory committees, which found that Plan B is
safe and effective in preventing pregnancy, the Food and Drug Administration
has refused to approve over-the-counter sales. It is most effective when taken
within 24 hours of unprotected sex, which may not be enough time to get a
prescription. But because of the outcry of a small group of extremists,
over-the-counter sales of Plan B are stalled.

Among those extremists is James W. Sedlak, founder and former president of a
group called Stop Planned Parenthood, who claims that the Plan B contraceptive
"is designed to kill human beings." It does no such thing. A concentrated dose
of the hormone progestin found in daily birth control pills, Plan B works by
preventing ovulation, fertilization of the egg or implantation of an egg in the
womb. There is no "human being," not even a fetus.

If Mr. Sedlak sounds like a member of the right-wing fringe, he is.
Nevertheless, his far-out views have held sway over a government body that
ought to be guided by science.

Indeed, the views of such extremists are gaining currency. Around the country,
there have been increasing reports of pharmacists who refuse to sell legally
prescribed contraceptives to women.

And then there's Southern Utah University professor Bryce Christensen, who
often writes for an ultraconservative outfit called the Howard Center for
Family, Religion and Society. He has blasted women who work outside the home
and denounced "intentional childlessness" as one of the causes of the decline
of traditional marriage.

Mr. Sedlak, Mr. Christensen and their fellow Christian jihadists want to patrol
your bedroom to make sure you're wearing your flannel nightie. It's important
to know whether Judge Roberts would let them in.

Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Her column appears Mondays in The Sun.

Copyright + 2005, The Baltimore Sun | Get Sun home delivery

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