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TechnoratiThere is no doubt that President Obama's most valuable political asset is his remarkable charisma - his ability to send the spirit of the nation soaring on the wings of hope and change. Among the hopeful visions and promises of change articulated by Mr. Obama in his inaugural speech this past January was a vow to "restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality."
Six months into his term, a picture of the President's understanding of science and its "rightful place" is emerging, and it is anything but flattering. President Obama has repeatedly demonstrated a propensity to elevate "science" over ethical considerations in pursuit of utilitarian goals. He has shown himself to be all too willing to sacrifice principle, morality, and the most vulnerable among us for the sacred "achievements" of social and scientific progress.
This penchant of the President to disregard the importance of protecting innocent human life should come as no surprise. As a state senator, Mr. Obama opposed legislation mandating emergency medical treatment for infants who survived an attempted abortion because he felt that a live baby would "add one more burden on a woman." Still, one would hope that President Obama, famed "reconciler of opposites," would find a way to strike a balance between his pro-abortion, pro-"science" constituency and his pro-life supporters.
On the issue of life however, Mr. Obama has thus far proven himself to be unwilling or unable to find that mythical "common ground" he so eloquently spoke of in his commencement address at Notre Dame. In his short time in office, the President has disbanded his council on bioethics (apparently they spent too much time talking about ethics), overturned limits on embryonic stem cell research instituted by President Bush, ended federal funding of abstinence-based education in favor of funding for contraception-based education, lobbied for federal funding for abortion in Washington, D.C., and supported the addition of an abortion provision in the behemoth health care bill currently winding its way through Congress.
Perhaps most revealing is the elimination of the President's Council on Bioethics, a distinguished group of experts who explored the ethical and public policy implications of emerging biomedical developments such as cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The Council provided an important forum for discussing such matters, thereby fostering the development of a reasoned consensus about how to proceed through uncharted territory. One would think that such a role would hold great attraction for President Obama in light of his stated commitment to discussion and debate; yet time and again, Mr. Obama has demonstrated that when it comes to protecting innocent human life, he is unwilling to allow ethical concerns to impede scientific "progress."
Mr. Obama appears to view any "advance" in science as an intrinsic good that is always beneficial to mankind. This is the same mentality that animated the eugenics movement of the early 20th century. In the 21st century, this mentality has given rise to a "disposable man" ethic that dictates that embryonic stem cell research should proceed unencumbered, regardless of its lack of success and regardless of the fact that each tiny embryo dissected in our quest for our improvement or immortality represents the willful destruction of nascent human life.
Obama's disposable man mentality may also be seen in his approach to pregnancy and abortion. His decision to de-fund abstinence education makes it clear that he sees no utility in a principled approach to preventing unplanned pregnancies. Obama apparently believes that the abstinence-only approach is stifling and outdated. Why encourage teens to defer sex until marriage? Their hormones are, after all, raging. We’ll just provide condoms on the front end, and if that doesn’t do the trick, abortion on the back end-all at taxpayer expense, of course. Problem solved; principle be damned.Continue »
Ken Connor is the Chairman of the Center for a Just Society in Washington, DC, the former President of the Family Research Council, and a nationally recognized trial lawyer.
