Full-Term Pregnancy Lowers Breast Cancer Risk: Study

A new study finds that women over 40 who are genetically predisposed to have breast cancer, and who have given birth to one child, lower their risk of contracting the disease by 14% with each additional child they bear. (The study is on PubMed; LifeNews has a distillation of it.)

That means that when women over 40 who are genetically predisposed to breast cancer seek an abortion, they should be notified that full-term pregnancy would reduce their risk and possibly save their lives. At least, that's what a health-care provider who cares about women and wishes them to make a fully informed choice would do.

Not so with Planned Parenthood, whose Web site states unequivocally: "Studies have shown that abortion is not associated with breast cancer. Undaunted by the absence of compelling evidence, anti-choice extremists insist on making the connection anyway. Once more they are using misinformation as a weapon in their campaign against safe, legal abortion."

They know where their bread is buttered.

More information on the numerous studies linking abortion to increased breast-cancer risk is available on The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer's Web site.

* * *

The same data from the large international study that shows the link between full-term pregnancy and decreased breast-cancer risk also shows that women genetically predisposed to breast cancer suffer an increased cancer risk when they use oral contraceptives, But, as I wrote last year, "Planned Parenthood Says Don't You Worry Your Pretty Little Contracepting Head About Cancer."

Attention Blues Fans

The lovely and talented Deborah Chesher needs your help.

Quote of the Day

"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."

— St. Joan of Arc at her trial. Today is her feast day.

The Daily News has a nice follow-up story on the restoration of the Sacred Heart statue.

Courage Under Fire

In case you missed it, here's what happened last week when a 21-year-old college student told his fellow Catholic college graduates that they should be unselfish — a mission that, he said, included being faithful to the Church's teachings on contraception. (Note: Video contains profane heckling.)

Bettnet has more on the bravery of St. Thomas University graduate Ben Kessler, who plans to enter the priesthood.

Ben There, Dawn That

I was introduced to G.K. Chesterton circa December 1995 by Sugarplastic band member Ben Eshbach, when — while interviewing him for a story about his group — I asked him what he was reading and he said The Man Who Was Thursday.

One could draw a straight line — albeit a decade-long one — from Ben's answer to my entering the Church last month. I can never thank him enough — but Ben, if you're reading this, thanks.

Checking Ben's highly entertaining Web site this morning, I'm pleased to see that he's still recommending Chesterton (see second item) and has some great observations to offer about him.

While you're at Ben's site, make sure you watch the video of him jumping on his bed. There's something Chestertonian about that too, in the sense of wonder.

FURTHER READING: Sugarplastic's home page

Aisle Be Dammed

With trains still canceled due to the Amtrak outage, I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday for the Feast of the Ascension. It was only my second time there, and I hadn't gotten a look 'round on my first visit, so I made it a point to visit each of the shrines. In the course of doing that, I made a discovery that was a bit embarrassing for me.

St. Patrick's has very few through streets.

If you've ever been there, you'll know what I mean.

Art Reflects Anti-Life

From Rhys Tuck comes news of an online satire depicting the "Sweetwater Post-Natal Abortion Clinic. Anyone know the story behind this? Whoever created it was well acquainted with the flowery graphics popular with abortion clinics' Web sites. Make sure you click the llink for information about "services."

Although the black humor of the Sweetwater site may be heavy-handed, its message is completely relevant to Roe vs. Wade: If a court or government may choose an arbitrary point in the human life cycle at which personhood is created, no one is safe. The great science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick made the same point in 1974 with his short story "The Pre-Persons."

ACLU Board Members Bid to Stifle Free Speech by ACLU Board Members

No, that's not an exaggeration or a joke. The New York Times reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.

"Where an individual director disagrees with a board position on matters of civil liberties policy, the director should refrain from publicly highlighting the fact of such disagreement," the committee that compiled the standards wrote in its proposals. ...

Given the organization's longtime commitment to defending free speech, some former board members were shocked by the proposals.

Nat Hentoff, a writer and former A.C.L.U. board member, was incredulous. "You sure that didn't come out of Dick Cheney's office?" he asked.

"For the national board to consider promulgating a gag order on its members — I can't think of anything more contrary to the reason the A.C.L.U. exists," Mr. Hentoff added. [Full story]

You have to read several paragraphs down in the story to find out why the group's suddenly interested in silencing its own board: Some members spoke out against the ACLU's support of Rep. Carolyn Maloney's bill to censor advertising by crisis pregnancy centers.

In other words, the ACLU proves once again that it believes in free speech for all — except for those who go against the organization's pro-abortion party line.

LifeNews has more on the story.

Quote of the Day

"The object of life is the maturity of the soul, and you reflect that maturity of the soul when you allow others to be more important than you."

— Chuck Colson in his lecture last night at Socrates in the City, according to my notes.

Melbourne to Be Wild

Ernie Kovacs is alive and well and living in Australia.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Statistician

The Raving Atheist notes two recent medical studies: one finding that prayer makes no measurable difference in the condition of patients recovering from heart surgery, and another finding that "overweight African-Americans who regularly participate in religious activities have lower blood pressure than their less-faithful counterparts."

From this, he concludes that "God Favors Fat Black People."

The reasonableness of his heavy satire is impossible to escape. I'm embarrassed to spell it out — it's like spraying whipped cream on creme brulée — but, just so there's no question, I'll say it: God refuses to be tested. The fact of this is no doubt frustrating to an atheist who seeks truth; heck, it's frustrating to the faithful. But that's the way it is.

In related news, Simone Weil writes, "Christ likes us to prefer truth to him because, before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go toward the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms."

Blonde Faith

From my friend Eileen Fitzgerald Smith comes the most fascinating and mysterious First Communion photo I've ever seen.

Qaeda-Linked Thug Sold Christians Into Slavery

The Times of London has the story about a senior member of an Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda who kidnapped Christian boys from the Punjab and sold them into slavery:

[Gul] Khan was exposed in a sting organised by American and Pakistani missionaries who decided to save 20 such boys and return them to their homes. Using a secret camera, they filmed him accepting $28,500 (£15,000) from a Pakistani missionary posing as a businessman who said he wanted to set up an operation in which the boys would beg for cash on the streets.

Khan was observed driving from the meeting with a knapsack full of cash to the JUD headquarters at Muridke, near Lahore.

The base was funded by Osama Bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader, in the late 1990s and the JUD’s assets were frozen last month by the US Treasury after it was designated a terrorist organisation.

The article goes on to say that "the undercover missionaries have demanded the prosecution of Khan and an investigation into his work for the JUD, which claims to have created a 'pure Islamic environment' at Muridke."

Apparently the Pakistani government, a U.S. ally in the war on terror, doesn't automatically consider enslaving Christians to be a crime worthy of prosecution.


Thanks to Becky and Tom for the tip.

A reader asked me why I quoted Virgil the other day. It had something to do with its being the night before deadline day of the launch of two new weekly newspapers — Brooklyn News and Queens News — with yours truly writing all the headlines and copyediting all the articles.

Quote of the Day

Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.

"Perhaps, one day, even this will seem pleasant to remember." — Virgil

Quote of the Day

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

— Mother Teresa

Noetic License

Outside Hana sushi restaurant, West Hanover, N.J.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, which received over $3 million in federal tax money in 2004 according to its annual report, is using its main Web site — not just its political-action committee's site — to endorse Democratic Governor Jim Doyle's re-election.

The Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin home page prominently features a link to its PAC page endorsing Doyle which features pro-Doyle TV commercials. Since Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, its blatant advocacy of a candidate is a clear violation of federal election law.

RELATED: How to report tax fraud (IRS Web site)

Manly Quote of the Day

From Art Carey's review of Harvey C. Mansfield's Manliness:

"The big flaw in Mansfield's argument is that he fails to distinguish between manly style and manly substance.

"Manly style is a guy who drives a Jeep; manly substance is a guy who can fix it. Manly style is Ronald Reagan playing soldier in war movies; manly substance is Jimmy Stewart, who actually flew numerous bomber missions. Manly style is seeming and appearing; manly substance is being and doing.

"There are people who look extremely manly, but are not. And people who don't look manly, but are. T.O., with his bulging muscles and chiseled torso, is a cartoon of exaggerated masculinity. On the football field, he certainly exhibits confidence in the face of risk. But because of his constant carping, his vanity and self-absorption, he is anything but manly.

"Fred Rogers, with his silly puppets and cardigan sweaters, was at the opposite end of the spectrum from Russell Crowe, Jesse Ventura and The Arnold. But he was confident of his belief in the power of love, and he had the courage to extend respect and appreciation to all, despite the risk of ridicule. The moral force of Rogers this soft, gentle man was fearsome.

"Indeed, a manly man can be a gentleman -- 'a manly man with polish and perfection,' Mansfield writes, gentle 'out of policy, not weakness.'"

You Say 'Da Vinci,' They Say 'Tomato'

It really is fun to watch the rotten tomatoes pile up.

I'm sure Sony is wishing it called the whole thing off.

RELATED: At last check, Faithmouse was working on "The Da Vinci Commode." Hope he doesn't get hurt in the line of doody.

A producer from CNN called the News today to inquire about the Jesus statue. Please pray that God accomplishes whatever is His will to accomplish with regard to the statue. For all I know, His will may have been accomplished already; still, if He's planning to do something more, prayer will help. My hope is that this visual reminder of Jesus' love — and of people's desire to "give Jesus a hand" — will touch more hearts. Thanks!

Critic Says There's No Cure for the Common 'Code'

Looks like those calling for a ban on the "Da Vinci Code" film needn't bother. It'll sink all by itself.

"... [I]t is impossible to believe that, had the novel never existed, such a script would ever have been considered by a Hollywood studio." — Variety

The Good, the Bath, and the Ugly

My bathtub in my new place is picking up stains when I hang up hand-washed clothes to dry.

Mom recommends I look up a place she knows that refinishes tubs.

I just can't get over the company's name — not to mention the risible logo, which appears to date from the company's founding in 1970.

They've also got a great phone number: 1-888-888-UGLY.

Gabby 'Cabbie' Unmasked

The Independent has the story on the delightful man who found himself mistaken for an Internet expert on the BBC. He was at the network in hope of getting a job; no doubt he'll get one now.

Jesus Makes News

Last Tuesday, a Daily News editor noticed a curious sight as he left work.

He was long familiar with the large statue of Jesus displaying his Sacred Heart that stood on the same block as the newspaper's headquarters. The statue, which looks almost directly at the national headquarters of Planned Parenthood across the street, had lost its right hand to vandalism. On this day, however, the editor saw that the statue was now surrounded by a metal frame — in preparation for its repair and for the installation of protective glass to prevent future vandalism.

I learned about the editor's discovery the following day, when I arrived at work and was asked by another editor if I could come up with a good headline for a story about Jesus under glass.

My jaw dropped. I had to explain that it was a surprise to be asked about the statue's renovation, since I was one of the locals and parishioners who had donated for the effort. (None of my senior colleagues had read my blog for a while.)

The story is in today's News (with a fine headline from the copy desk). I'm delighted and really overwhelmed that it's there. Being immersed in Catholic culture, it never would have occurred to me that people might be surprised to learn that vandalism is causing some churches to encase their statues. To me, the statue's important simply because it's beautiful and moving, providing comfort and inspiration to the faithful who pass by. But whatever the reason, just to have a picture of Jesus with his Sacred Heart in the country's sixth largest newspaper is wonderful. Look and it today and be blessed — see His face looking at you off the page know that He loves you.

Because of how this story happened, I am convinced more than ever that I need to trust God and not worry so much when media events like the "Da Vinci Code" give people a distorted image of Jesus. When He wants to get His true face into the news, He does.

UPDATE: The statue was featured on New York's Channel 5 news today at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. A reporter interviewed the pastor of the Church of St. Michael, which owns the statue (it stands near the entrance to a convent on the church grounds) and the craftsman who's repairing the hand. People really seem to be touched by this story of a church whose people wanted to give a hand to this statue that symbolizes Jesus' love and mercy.

At Least They Make a Great Fricasee or Ragout

Amanda of the profanity-laden Pandagon blog lists the reasons why she doesn't want children:

• Pregnancy is hard on your body.


• Babies deprive you of sleep and stress out your primary relationship and are hard on your sex life, to boot.


• Kids are expensive and even more so if you want to give them all the privileges it’ll take to make it easier for them to be happy and successful.


• Kids eat up time I’d rather spend on other things.


• For all the investment you put into kids, you don’t have a lot of control over the final product.


• People are an environmental disaster and not making more is the best thing you can do for the planet.


• White people are a historical disaster and making more is socially irresponsible. [Note from Dawn: Amanda writes in a comment to her post that this reason is intended to be tongue-in-cheek.]


• Kids are annoying, loud and smell bad.

In light of such sentiments, I'd just like to say ...

Thanks, Mom, for having me!



Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Sorry, nothing new here today; must approve the copyedited version of my book (hooray!).

When You Care Enough to End the Very Best

In September 2004, after reading a Planned Parenthood brochure that urged supporters to send "pro-choice greeting cards" for Mother's Day and other occasions, I invited readers to suggest what such cards would look like.

Well, it took them a while, but Planned Parenthood has finally caught up with the idea — via its fund-raising "Mother's Day Challenge!"

You've got to admit, the title of the promotion is truth in advertising. Planned Parenthood's mission is to make Mother's Day — that is, the reason to celebrate the holiday — a challenge.And they do make it a challenge, all the way down to the eliminations.

To help celebrate the challenge, Margaret Sanger's organization is selling a variety of e-cards.

Note that the only e-card featuring a live baby depicts a black child. That's ironic; according to Planned Parenthood's research arm, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are nearly four times as likely to abort blacks as they are to abort whites.

There's one Planned Parenthood e-card with which I agree: Every child a wanted child. Every child is wanted by God, who wishes it to have the opportunity to thrive. The child's mother is blessed with the responsibility to give him or her that opportunity. On Mother's Day and every day, I'm thankful that my mother gave me mine.

If you're a pro-life blogger and would like to create your very own Planned Parenthood Mother's Day Challenge greeting card or e-card, please leave a trackback to it below.

Planned Parenthood Says True Love Waits... to Use 'Protection'

Planned Parenthood's Teenwire sex-ed Web site sent its New York City-based Teen Advisory Group out to ask their peers for tips to prevent teen pregnancy, As can be expected, none of the advice used is about motivating teens to have the self-respect and wisdom to refrain from sex until marriage. Abstinence is mentioned in passing, but only grudgingly, and always in the same breath as an admonition to use "protection."

One quote in particular is priceless — the Planned Parenthood philosophy in a nutshell:

"Teens need to wait until they are more mature and ready to use condoms before they have sex." — Ashley, 14

RELATED: From my article on Teenwire for Touchstone, "The Young and the Hot-Wired":

Sex education used to be given entirely by children’s parents, free from the influence of government or other outside organizations. It was based upon personal responsibility and self-control. Even when parents erred by instilling undue shame, the lesson — that sex should be reserved for marriage — gave children moral strength to resist allowing themselves to use others or be used as a means to an end.

The Kinsey/SIECUS/Planned Parenthood paradigm, as expressed in Human Sexuality, is likewise all about personal responsibility and self-control. But the responsibility has shifted to the responsibility to make one’s own “choices” — and self-control is reduced to having the presence of mind to use a condom.

Giving Jesus a Hand

Jesus towers 12 feet high over 33th Street between 9th and 10th avenues in midtown Manhattan.

He graces the back entrance of the Church of St. Michael, not far from the entrance to the St. Michael Academy.



To Jesus' east, across the street, is the back of the Farley post office, Penn Station, and Madison Square Garden.

Carved on the wall behind him is Matthew 11:28: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

It's a comforting verse for the thousands of people who pass by every day, including people who work for the Associated Press, WNET/Channel 13, and the Daily News.

I've passed by that statue five days a week for the past 13 months as I've gone to work.Every day, I would feel bad that vandals had cut off its hand, and I would wish there were something I could do.

Today, I snapped these photos for a "before" picture. Tomorrow, work begins at last to give the statue of Jesus and his Sacred Heart a new hand. The workers will also repair other parts of the statue that are in disrepair, and they will put protective glass around the statue to thwart would-be vandals. Parishioners and people who work in the area, including myself, donated the money for the work so that the statue would continue to provide its comforting witness.

Directly across the street is a billboard from a Jewish organization. Although its object is different than that of the Sacred Heart statue, its message is strangely congruent: "Ask the Rabbi."

Veritas et Sanctitas

Today I was in a midtown church near my work. It's not my favorite church to attend for Mass — I was there more out of convenience* — but the building is beautiful and feels like a holy place.

I mention the services' not being special because one of the things that I like about Catholic worship, particularly in such heavenly surroundings, is that it has a certain bottom-line sanctity regardless of things like the way the music is sung or the way the homily is delivered.

As I looked up at the stained-glass windows, the white walls, and the high ceiling, I thought about a friend of mine who loves truth but does not yet admit knowledge of God.

It struck me very suddenly that my friend was a nonbeliever not because he hated sanctified things, but because he was in some sense frightened or disconcerted by the concept of sanctity — its breadth, its depth, its sheer immensity. After all, if one believes that God is holy, one discovers immediately that holiness is all around. One experiences this awareness with special intensity in a church, surrounded by images of people who, throughout the ages, lived out their faith in a way that is too beautiful and too self-sacrificing for us to fully conceive.

It reminds me of what C.S. Lewis said — I think he mentioned it in Mere Christianity and illustrated it by example in The Great Divorce — about how the most ordinary person whom we pass by every day and to whom we never give a second thought, might in Heaven be a creature too bright and dazzling for us to behold.


*Cue Church Lady: "Some people only go to church when it's convenient"

Get 'Em While They're Young

Something tells me it's just a matter of time before items from this line of clothing show up in the Planned Parenthood online store.

(Lest you think I'm exaggerating, the Planned Parenthood store already sells Teenwire items with similar messages.)

Hat tip: Mean Mr. Mustard.

(Rejected headline for this post [because it was too cute]: "Blinging Up Baby.")

Extreme Dome Makeover

I adore Fr. Joseph Huneycutt — we've long belonged to a bloggy mutual-admiration society — and am so happy for him about his upcoming book. Check out its inviting cover. Fr. Huneycutt doesn't mention where one can buy it, as far as I can tell, but I see it's available through the publisher's Web site.

Smash Hit

I wrote the front-page headline of today's paper. Perhaps the cast of the Monty Python musical on Broadway will add it to their "Knights of the Round Table" rhymes tonight.

Truthiness and Consequences

By The Raving Atheist

Planned Parenthood, as I noted yesterday, is using the story of a 17-year old girl harassed by a crisis pregnancy center as the centerpiece of its national anti-CPC lobbying efforts. Jivin J has identified the CPC and PP facilities involved in the alleged incident. He links to pictures of the CPC, on the inside and out, and questions whether it could have reasonably been mistaken for an abortion clinic.

John of Generations for Life did some digging of his own. He contacted the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Clerk’s office, and discovered no record of criminal or civil proceedings involving the CPC. Unless that little strip-mall storefront has corrupted the entire municipality, PP has some serious explaining (and e-mail correcting) to do.

Christina of Real Choice is urging all concerned cyberspace residents to contact the urban legend investigators at Snopes.com to encourage a full inquiry. Orthodoxy has acted on her suggestion, and raised his concerns at Feministe as well. Perhaps they'll be convinced to join us in this relentless quest for truth. After all, as Christina says, "[i]f the story is true, PP supporters will be vindicated, and prolifers will crack down on the CPC in question . . . [i]f it's false, maybe prochoicers ought to crack down on PP for lying."

'Chaste' Taste

Earlier this week, my editor at my publisher, W Publishing Group/Thomas Nelson, sent me the front cover of my first book, due in December:

I love it. I really can't get over how good it looks.

I had steeled myself for a chick-lit type of cover with a corny caricature, juvenile candy colors, and the title written in a dainty script typeface. Instead, the publisher's gone for a classy, mature, introspective look, with just a hint of playful irony. It reflects the book's tone, which is the most that I could ask for. What's more, it looks like something that one wouldn't be embarrassed to be caught reading on a bus.

I am so, so happy and excited that this is going to be the cover of my book; it makes the book's publication, though still far away, seem that much more real to me.

* * *

One of the things that I write about in my book is the different stages that one goes through as a single woman working at chastity. The stages go in waves; one can feel confident and secure for a while, and then dip down into loneliness and a sense of lack. I believe that the worst of the loneliness gets less severe over time, but it's important not to deny one's longings for love and companionship.

Our rational nature as human beings makes us resist paradox, yet the acceptance and even embrace of paradoxes is necessary for spiritual maturity. I take issue with those who boast that a single person who has any desire for marriage can nonetheless feel fulfilled in the same way that a married person can feel fulfilled. For me, as a single woman, the paradox of being chaste is that it is nothing and it is everything. It is nothing, in that it is not good for man to be alone. Marital love is one of the greatest things that a person can experience, and it has no direct equivalent. But being chaste is also everything, in that it enables me to see, on a day-to-day basis, what beauty there is in being incomplete.

None of us are ever complete. To be complete is to lack any upward striving, any need to grow. The rubber plant on my table as I type this is complete in that it doesn't have any obviously broken leaves or stems. But to consider it complete, in the sense that it contains within itself everything it ever needs, would kill it. It can't go on living without growing; that's not in its nature. It's the same for me, and that's where chastity enables me to pursue my spiritual goals in a way that I couldn't before I was chaste.

Before I began to work at chastity, I tried to fill the empty space in my heart and soul with things that would never fill it. Now, I work prayerfully to overcome my fear of having that empty space. As I do, I find that, as painful as it can be sometimes, I need it there.

One of my favorite Bible verses is in Psalm 37:

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

I see the instruction to "feed on His faithfulness" as meaning that I should look to God for my spiritual food. To do this, I must be hungry. Chastity acknowledges this spiritual hunger, and so opens me up to God's blessing.

That's part of the thrill of the chaste. For the rest, the book will be available for pre-order on Amazon in a few months. I know a chaste person shouldn't use this phrase, but why not: I can't wait.

License to Kill

By The Raving Atheist

The cure for speech you don't like, the ACLU is fond of saying, is more speech. But when the message is "choose life," the organization may well believe that less is more. It's appealing to the Supreme Court to make sure those frightening words don't deface Tennessee license plates. Ostensibly, the complaint is that the state has violated the First Amendment by discriminating against the vehicular expression of pro-choice views -- but it’s clear from the way the group is pursuing the case that its stance has more to do with a love of abortion than a love of expression.

Some background first: The problem the pro-choice lobby has with the various license plate cases that have cropped up is that it doesn't have a palatable counter-message to screw on to the bumper. "Choose Abortion" and "Choose Death" are non-starters. "Choose Choice" is meaninglessly redundant and "Pro-choice, Pro-Family" is risibly oxymoronic. So the strategy is to keep things quiet. Rather than trumpeting your own message, shut up your opponent.

This creates a dilemma for the ACLU, which has traditionally defended free speech as the supreme American value. It has supported the Nazis' right to march and the Ku Klux Klan's sponsorship of roadside beautification billboards. It may not agree with their objectives, but believes that Constitutional guarantees are absolutes. It champions the speech rights of its client rather than attacking the adversary's position.

Unless abortion is the topic. A pro-choice insurgency is gaining influence within the group and causing it to take some uncharacteristic positions. Last month, for example, the organization announced its support for a cynical bill selectively targeting allegedly "deceptive" advertising by crisis pregnancy clinics -- unconcerned, apparently, with the nation's largest abortion provider's use of the word "parenthood" in its name.

Outcry from civil libertarians within and without the ACLU brought about a quiet retreat. But its pro-choice colors have resurfaced in the Tennessee license plate controversy. Although the issue is allegedly just free speech, the organization's press release reveals that the litigation is being pursued by the group"s "Reproductive Freedom Project." The title of the release attacks the state's initiative as an "anti-choice License Plate Program." The text of the document several times characterizes the plates as anti-choice and claims that the proceeds from plate sales will go to "a private anti-choice organization called New Life Resources."

The ACLU knows better. New Life Resources does not engage in "anti-choice" activism over the legality of abortion, but provides financial assistance for pregnant women. The phrase "choose life" expresses Tennessee's moral preference for encouraging childbirth over abortion, a preference that the Supreme Court has repeatedly held a state may indulge through funding and other activities. Notably, despite the motives so clearly revealed in its media statements, the ACLU carefully avoided the disingenuous "anti-choice" characterization in its Supreme Court brief.

All this being said, it is entirely possible that Tennessee's program will be invalidated in its present form. The narrow issue in the case is whether the license plate expresses solely governmental speech -- which would be Constitutionally permissible -- or whether the participation of private groups in the program created a public forum. If the latter is the case the state would be required to choose between allowing pro-choice plates or shutting down its custom plate program completely.

I suspect the ACLU is hoping for the "no speech" outcome. When the issue arose in New York, identical except for the fact that it was the pro-life side seeking equal space on license plates, the organization did not jump in to raise its discrimination concerns. Not a word, even though the governor and the attorney general (who has in the past persecuted CPCs) opposed the suit on pure speech grounds -- arguing that words "choose life" were "patently offensive" and ridiculously insisting that road rage would result. Perhaps Judge Jacobs' suggestion at oral argument that ruling for the pro-life side would require the issuance of white supremacist and Klu Klux Klan plates might yet draw them in to that case. To represent the Klan and the supremacists, if nobody else.

The Church of Choice

Thanks to Saint Kansas for the tip on Doug Tennapel's animation "Liberals Have Values Too".

Food for Thought

By The Raving Atheist

Catholic philosopher G.K. Chesterton was a heavyweight -- intellectually speaking, of course. Here he offers some food for thought:

Gluttony is a great fault; but we do not necessarily dislike a glutton. We only dislike the glutton when he becomes a gourmet -- that is, we only dislike him when he not only wants the best for himself, but knows what is best for other people.

Atheist philosopher John Stuart Mill had similar thoughts about those who eat slop:

It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.

Neither man, then, subscribed to the common view that no one is ever in a position to decide what is best for anyone else. Both accepted the notion that some authorities are higher than others. The chief difference between the two is whether the highest authority of all is a man or a god. And I think we can all agree that the answer to that question is obvious to anyone who isn't a pig or a fool.