Say Anything Blog

While I was driving back from Minnesota today and listening to the endless news coverage of the Mark Foley mess on the radio something occurred to me.  Why is what Mark Foley did any less reprehensible than transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion?  Which is something that Democrats, largely, support?

Let me explain.

Last month Congress tried to pass legislation called the Child Interstate Notification Act.  That law would have made people transporting minors across state lines in order to get said minors abortions without having to comply with a state’s parental notification law susceptible to a fine and imprisonment up to a year.  The law didn’t get voted on in the Senate because a bunch of Democrats refused to vote for cloture.  As I’m sure you’re all aware, no law can be voted on in the Senate unless the Senators vote to end debate on it.  In order for debate to be ended (this is called a cloture vote), 60 Senators most vote in favor of it.  The Child Interstate Notification Act didn’t get the 60 votes it needed for cloture because a bunch of Democrats refused to go along (two of those Democrats were Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, for you North Dakotans in the audience).

Now think about this for a moment.  What these Democrats are saying with their actions is that people who hide the fact that minors are a) having sex b) pregnant and c) seeking an abortion from the minor’s parents should be protected under the law.  How is that any worse than what Foley did?

Let me give you an illustrative example.  Say you have a sixteen-year-old daughter.  Your daughter is out having sex with people you don’t know without your knowledge.  She gets pregnant.  She goes to a guidance counselor and tells that counselor that she’s pregnant but doesn’t want to tell you, her parent, because she knows you’ll get really mad at her.  This counselor asks the girl if she’d like an abortion.  The girl says yes and the counselor - rather than informing you, the parent, of your daughter’s irresponsible sex life and pregnancy - arranges for her to cross the border into another state to get an abortion without your knowledge.

Democrats think this is ok.  They think 16 year-old girls should be able to make decisions about their sex life and about abortions without their parent’s input.  So if that’s ok, then why can’t 16 year-old boys decide to have cybersex with U.S. Representatives?

Which isn’t to excuse Foley’s reprehensible actions but rather to illustrate how equally reprehensible Democrat opposition to parental notification laws is, and how two-faced Democrats are on these issues.  It seems to me that any Democrat in America who opposes parental notification laws when it comes to abortions can’t turn around and be angry at what Foley did.  If Democrats can support a minor’s ability to have sex, get pregnant and then get an abortion without the parents getting involved then certainly they can support some sexy internet talk between a U.S Representative and a 16 year-old page.