C’mon, Ruth.
In an interview with Elle published Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said of current abortion restrictions that the U.S. has “gotten about as conservative as it will get.”
Talk about wishful thinking.
Ginsburg, a liberal, makes no secret of her pro-choice views, remarking in the interview that “young women, including my daughter and my granddaughter, have grown up in a world where they know if they need an abortion, they can get it,” and adding that it is “comforting to know if they need it, they can get it.”
Pro-life Americans recently have made progress in increasing restrictions on elective abortion at the state level, primarily tied to banning late-term abortions and mandating that doctors and clinics satisfy certain requirements.
But there’s still a long way to go – and the indications are that it won’t be Ginsburg who has the last laugh on this issue.
If you dig into the numbers, it’s clear that Americans aren’t comfortable with abortion in all and any circumstances up to the birth of the child. In fact, half of Americans think abortion should be legal only in some circumstances, according to a May Gallup poll, compared to 28 percent who think it should be legal in all circumstances.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives for President Barack Obama to address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Feb. 2009. (Photo: Pablo Monsivais/Newscom)
In fact, a Gallup poll in 2012 found that only 27 percent and 14 percent of Americans, respectively, think abortion should be legal in the second and third trimesters.
Broad support exists for a host of restrictions. A 2011 Gallup poll found that 69 percent favor “a law requiring women seeking abortions to wait 24 hours before having the procedure done,” 87 percent favor “a law requiring doctors to inform patients about certain possible risks of abortion before performing the procedure,” and 50 percent favor “a law requiring women seeking an abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus at least 24 hours before the procedure.”
In other words, many Americans recognize the need for more abortion restrictions, not fewer.
Also, technology continues to challenge the view that an unborn child isn’t really fully human. Increasingly better ultrasounds, including 3D ultrasounds, are giving us an unprecedented view of children’s development in the womb.
Amazing medical advances are helping more and more babies who are born prematurely to survive.
There’s no doubt that the powerful pro-abortion lobby will continue to push and fight for unlimited access to abortion. But if you look at public opinion, science and the growing cultural fascination with kids even before they’re born – whether it’s Chelsea Clinton’s baby or Kate Middleton’s – it looks like the U.S. will keep trending toward becoming a safer, not more dangerous, place for the littlest Americans.