It happened on May 20, 2001. President George Bush delivered a commencement address at Notre Dame, focused mainly on compassion, and on his plan for establishment of religion through the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. The President was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree.
Now in fairness, President Bush had not yet distinguished himself as Torturer-in-Chief and did not yet have the blood of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians on his hands. But he had just come off a run as Governor of Texas, where he had proven to be an enthusiastic practitioner of capital punishment, sending 152 people to their deaths by lethal injection over his 6 years as Governor, a record pace in modern times. In order to maintain that pace, Bush had to deny clemency to virtually everyone who petitioned (serial killer Henry Lee Lucas being the lone exception) and execute all comers, including the mentally retarded. In this herculean task he was ably assisted by his toady, and future Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. Much later, as President, Bush would attempt to institute a “fast track” for the death penalty to get things moving at a more satisfying pace.
And yet this monster Bush, is pretty much deified by the so-called “pro-life” movement in this country. Makes it pretty hard to take their protests at Notre Dame today seriously.
Abortion isn’t pretty. It would be difficult to defend it as a positive good. But the State compelling women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term is equally ugly. My judgment is in agreement with President Obama: abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. Women should be allowed to reach their own ethical evaluations of the option of terminating a pregnancy with the counsel of their families, physicians, and spirtual advisors. The State should not be allowed to intrude into this process.
I applaud President Obama for his stance in favor of allowing women to control their own bodies and I applaud the University of Notre Dame for standing up to the anti-abortion protesters in defense of the ideals of a university.
