The conservative Susan B. Anthony List is questioning Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s stand on abortion, saying his commitment to states’ rights ignores a responsibility to protect the unborn.
This article first appeared online at Sunshine News on July 29, 2011.
Rick Perry’s States’-Rights Spiel on Abortion Flops With Susan B. Anthony List
by Kenric Ward
The conservative Susan B. Anthony List is questioning Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s stand on abortion, saying his commitment to states’ rights ignores a responsibility to protect the unborn.
Perry was quoted as telling reporters in Houston this week, “You either have to believe in the 10th Amendment or you don’t,” explaining his belief that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, the legality of abortion would be decided at the state level.
On other occasions, Perry has referred to Roe. v. Wade as a case of “judicial activism.”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser on Friday called Perry “a longtime friend of the pro-life movement,” but chided the governor’s 10th Amendment rationale.
“We agree that certainly there is a lot that can be done at the state level to reduce the number of abortions, but that does not diminish or eliminate the federal government’s responsibility to protect human life in all of its stages,” she said.
Robert P. George, McCormick professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, rebutted Perry’s latest statement on constitutional grounds, saying:
“It is important for Governor Perry and for all Americans to recognize the responsibility of the national government under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment to ensure that the guarantees of Section 1 of that amendment are honored by all 50 states.
“Those guarantees include the following: ‘nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’
“As a matter of indisputable scientific fact, the child in the womb is a living human being. As a matter of moral truth, deeply embedded in our legal and constitutional traditions, all human beings are persons. Thus, by the clearest logical implication, the national government is empowered and obligated by our Constitution to ensure that unborn human persons are protected in their most fundamental right — the right to life.”
George concluded: “Because this is an expressly delegated power, there is no 10th Amendment basis for denying or relieving the national government of its responsibilities, along with the states, to protect the child in the womb.”
Susan B. Anthony, the conservatives’ answer to the liberal Emily’s List, said it was “looking forward to [Perry] signing its Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge.”
Perry has run afoul of other social conservatives with a similar 10th Amendment stand in support of the states’ right to legalize gay marriage. Effectively, that position puts Perry to the left of President Bill Clinton, who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, barring federal recognition of same-sex unions.
