Now that 2010 is here, you can surely expect to soon witness one of the harbingers of primary season—namely, candidates knocking on your door to ask for your vote.
I’m a big believer in the Boy Scout motto—”Be prepared.” As such, I think it’s wise for us to know what to say when this situation arises so we can ascertain whether a candidate is legitimately pro-life.
This leads me to share an exchange I had with a would-be candidate a few months ago.
One morning, as I was waiting to catch the train on my way to work, I was approached by a man who was planning to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Roland Burris. He asked if I would sign a petition to get his name on the primary ballot.
So I asked him the first question I ask anyone who tells me he’s running for office:
Do you support a woman’s right to choose?
The first question I used to ask was: “Are you pro-life?” But I soon realized that this is the wrong question to ask, because then the person you’re talking to will automatically assume you’re pro-life, and so, to tell you what you want to hear, there’s a decent chance that if he’s pro-choice he’ll say “Yes”—which he could later try to justify by saying, “I’m personally opposed to abortion, but…”
That’s why I think, “Do you support a woman’s right to choose?” is a much better question to ask. Then, if the person is pro-choice, he’s more likely to give you an honest answer, because he’ll probably assume you are too. (And if, on the other hand, he is sincerely pro-life, he won’t be afraid to tell you.)
So, in answer to my question, he said he did, and we went on to have a short conversation that went something like this:
Me: So you support the right of a human being to kill another human being?
Him: No, I just think every woman should be able to make that decision for herself.
Me: Have you ever seen pictures of aborted babies?
Him: I’m a doctor. [!]
Me: So you should know that abortion takes the life of a human being.
Him: It’s not a human being. It’s a fetus.
Me: “Fetus” is just a Latin word that means, like, “little one” or something. What sort of being is it? A horse being? A gerbil being?
Him: OK, it’s a human being.
Me: So you support the right of a human being to kill another human being?
Him: It’s not a human being. It’s a fetus.
Me: But you just said ten seconds ago it was a human being.
Him: Have a nice day.
And then he walked away.
