04-11-01

THE PRO-DEATH FACTION


There's nothing quite so disgusting as the way regressives scramble madly (albeit rarely) to embrace the notion of Free Speech when it suits their particular agenda. Hardly champions of free speech in the regular course of events (remember Shrub's cute little comment, "There ought the be limits to freedom of speech"?), they're nevertheless the quickest to duck behind its protective shield whenever their practice of spewing hatred and threats is under attack.

Recently, the infamous 'Nuremburg Files' website won an appeal and had the injunction against it removed, freeing the website owner - loony anti-abortion activist Neal Horsley - to once again post the names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information of abortionists on his site, as well as putting a line through the names of doctors who've been murdered (and graying out the names of doctors who've been wounded). Because Horsley claims he posts this information so that the doctors he targets can be prosecuted in the future, when all abortions will be outlawed (doesn't sound so far-fetched in these post-coup times, does it?) the court determined that the 'Nuremburg Files' site does not constitute a threat and is protected by the First Amendment.

Now, the First Amendment is a dandy thing, and I'll always step forward to defend it, even when I don't particularly like the speech I'm defending. But the idea that the 'Nuremburg Files' website doesn't constitute a threat is patently ridiculous. Horsley's explanation of why he posts the names and personal information of doctors is ludicrous. Unless you believe there exists a very real chance that abortion will not only be outlawed in the near future, but that the illegality of abortion will be retroactive as well, then there is no reason to assume that doctors who currently perform a legal procedure would continue to perform the procedure should it suddenly become against the law. While I don't doubt for a minute that some brave doctors, should Roe vs. Wade be overturned, will deliberately break the law in order to provide women with a basic civil right, I find it highly improbable to assume that every single doctor listed on Horsley's nasty little website would do so. In fact, if you want to get downright nitpicky, Horsley is actually slandering these doctors by openly asserting that they would all engage in 'criminal activity'.

Additionally, the First Amendment does not protect speech which incites violence, and the weak excuses of Neal "Horse's-ass" Horsley aside, the 'Nuremburg Files' site most definitely is an incitement to violence. When the case was first brought to court, the jury found for the plaintiffs (Planned Parenthood, among others) precisely for this reason. Since the excuse of 'future prosecution' is so completely transparent, the only logical conclusion one can make is that the information about the doctors is listed so that they can be more easily found by the extreme faction of the anti-choice group -- those who could never apply the term 'pro-life' to themselves, since they advocate murdering people who perform abortions. And Horse's-ass is most definitely a part of this group, since he has specifically stated that A) he considers abortion murder and B) he supports the notion of "murder to stop murder".

In fact, as far as I'm concerned, ANYONE who supports overturning Roe vs. Wade is part of this group. Until the anti-choice people openly admit that abortion is a legal procedure, and stop using inciteful language such as "killing", "murder", "holocaust", etc., then they are, however unwittingly - and I don't believe for a second that it's not intentional - encouraging the James Kopps (accused assassin of Dr. Barnett Slepian) of this world.

Neal Horsley appeared on Fox News' 'Hannity & Colmes' last week, where we was verbally thrashed by the sometimes-liberal Alan Colmes, and given all but a pat on the back from rabid right-winger Sean Hannity, who made a few wimpy comments about "not agreeing" with Horsley's tactics and then went on at great length about how "repugnant" abortions are. Since Hannity had just finished a segment with one of the doctors listed on the 'Nuremburg Files' website in which he steadfastly refused to address the man with the title 'doctor', and since he also refused to openly condemn the underlying - yet very apparent - purpose of Horsley's site, he shares the blame for any future murders, in my book.

But the blame won't lie only with crackpots like Horsley and hate-mongerers like Hannity - the current administration will have to shoulder the blame as well. Ever since Shrub was appointed by the five Supreme Court Injustices and dropped the silly pretense of 'compassionate conservatism', more and more people like Horsley have been crawling out of their holes to celebrate. The selection of John Ashcroft - who very nearly succeeded in pushing a bill through the Missouri legislature which could have protected people who murder abortion providers (no, I'm not making this up) - sent a pretty clear message to the whackos: "We're on your side".

The simple fact is that the self-appointed "pro-lifers" are not pro-life at all; the vast majority of them are ardent supporters of the death penalty, and an equally vast number lose all concern for the 'innocent babies' as soon as said babies are born. They have little to no concern for the life of women, since we all know that women would suffer greatly should abortion be outlawed -- poor women, that is, since wealthy women would be able to get abortions overseas, in more civilized countries. The term "pro-life" is as inciteful as using the term "murder" to describe abortions, and anyone using the term is giving a wink and a nod to extremist groups like Horsley's 'Army of God', which as far as I'm concerned ought to call itself part of the 'pro-death' faction.

I do not believe in censorship, and am opposed to it in all but the most extreme cases. Neal Horsley certainly has the right to express his views; he even has the right to claim that abortion is murder, and that he hopes all abortion providers will be punished at some future date. He does NOT have the right to make threats or to incite murder. But as long as our government continues to act as an enabler to would-be assassins, Horsley and others have a free pass to spread their messages of hate and violence...and anyone who supports this enabling must be willing to shoulder a portion of the blame.


~Rose

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