by Brooks A. Mick, M.D.

Republicans (I would deny that they are conservatives) who pushed for and voted for making Terri Schiavo’s case a federal issue have effectively negated their argument for state’s rights in other areas, specifically regarding gay marriage, abortion decisions, and other items dear to their hearts.

What they are doing is explicitly ceding to the feds the right to make such decisions regarding all these family-value and morals-based areas. Short-sightedly, because of their emotional biases regarding this one case, they are destroying the very claims they have made in the past—that state legislatures should decide these issues; that voters should decide these issues; that activist courts, especially the federal courts, should not be ham-fistedly deciding these cases regarding these issues.

So now, simply because they disagree with the specific decision in this specific case, they are taking control of a huge legal bulldozer and flattening the moral high ground that they will later wish they had not destroyed.

They are, in fact, dissembling and spinning in making their arguments for such in ways as egregious as Democratic spin on other issues. They are claiming the case has not been referred to federal courts. In fact, it has and it’s been reviewed and the US Supreme Court has refused to hear it. They are relying on the opinions of people who have never seen or examined Terri Schiavo. They are relying on the emotional appeals and opinions of family members who are not at all objective here. They are spouting platitudes about “erring on the side of life” without stopping to think “WHOSE LIFE IS IT, ANYWAY, AND WHAT GIVES CONGRESS THE POWER TO MEDDLE IN SUCH DECISIONS?” Now the answer will be, the Republicans have given congress such power.

Republicans should stop to think about the entire situation and not just emotionally react to some outtakes from home videos of one unfortunate woman. If you don’t like the Roe v Wade decision, for example, where now can you object to it? How can you propose taking the issue back to the voters of individual states if you have quite clearly been disrespectful of the opinions of voters in those states? (I note Rush Limbaugh making one of his rare mistakes today, saying that those who do not think this should be made a federal issue are opposing the will of the majority. See below reference for the refutation of that position.) You do note that several polls have clearly said that Republicans are voting against the opinions of the voters here, don’t you? Has it all been just politics? Pandering to one’s base? Is this what the congress has become now? Where are the statesmen of the past who stood on principle?

If you don’t stand on principle, are you not destined to merely pander to the perceived whim of the moment?

Are you not then just acquiescing to the will of the loudest? Does this not equate to mob rule? When the mob comes for you, who will stand up then against them?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PollVault/story?id=599622&page=1