Only in America?

It turns out I should have delayed writing that last article, for no sooner had I written it than I heard Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Edinburgh’s ridiculous pronouncement comparing abortion to the Dunblane massacre (where 16 children were gunned down in Scotland). In his tirade against a woman’s right to choose, he said that

“We are killing -- in our country -- the equivalent of a classroom of kids every single day, he said. Can you imagine that? Two Dunblane massacres a day in our country going on and on.”

Of course, the good Cardinal conveniently ignored the fact that, while Dunblane was a cold-blooded, unprovoked and vicious massacre without reason or logic, abortion is not so unfounded and unthinking. In comparing abortion to a massacre, Cardinal O’Brien sought to arouse revulsion and shock, what he has done instead is to callously ignore all the women who, without abortions, would now be dead and insultingly compare their actions to the work of a homicidal maniac. He has disregarded the manifold medical and social reasons behind abortions. Reasons, I might add, that in this country, two doctors have to certify. This is not abortion on demand, this is not cold, unthinking, unreasoning murder and it would appear that the good Cardinal is seeking to place the life of an unborn child, who would not live without the mother, above the life of that mother. It would appear that he does not care that, if abortion is illegal, many will still seek it, and it will be dangerous, even fatal, to the mother.

In this, we see some of the worst of the American Christian right - something once dismissed with the words “Only in America” - rearing its hideous head in this country. The topic of abortion, which has divided American opinion since the Supreme Court gave women the right to choose, is now being raised by our own particular set of Christian fundamentalists, although surprisingly, they belong to the Catholic Church, rather than the fringe evangelical groups that one finds in America. Only public opinion is not, in this case, on their side, as it is not with homosexuality. While the Christian right may scream loudly and attempt to impose their version of morality upon us, a version that denies basic rights to many, we must remember that the silent majority is on our side. I wish they would be more vocal.

Cardinal O’Brien was backed up by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, England’s top-ranking Catholic Prelate and a man who recently hit the front pages demanding that the government not end homophobic discrimination in adoption. Now this holy pair is seeking to deny communion to any pro-choice politicians attending Mass. They are forcing Ministers like Ruth Kelly (who still hasn’t said homosexuality isn’t a sin) to choose between Christianity and Politics. I hope that the disproportionate influence of the religious right is resisted, and I hope that such ministers and members of Parliament choose public opinion, rights and safety.