[newgeezer]

A practical analysis by Randall Terry. It is indeed a PR goldmine and a political scam.

The big players on both sides know it. At best, the bill is a Supreme Court test.

[newgeezer]

FYI ping.

[Torie]

I thought Randall Terry was in jail. As per usual, what Randall Terry wants is not what Randall Terry gets. What a loser.

[sinkspur]

Terry's feeling cocky after playing a role in the Schiavo case.

He's also trying to rehabilitate himself, after dumping his wife and kids and taking up with a 23 year old.

His proposal is a political non-starter, and he knows it.

Who's scammin' who?

[xzins]

Terry has definitely spoken the truth.

They'll simply kill the babies while still inside the womb.

But that has been progress, both practically and in public relations, and that shouldn't be bad-mouthed. There should be a few month's celebration of progress and then a trip back to the well to ask the politicos, "What have you done for me lately?"

[My2Cents]

I think Randall Terry is upset that he can't take credit for the bill's passage. He is a perfect example of why the pro-life movement hasn't accomplished anything of substance in 30 years.

[EternalVigilance]

Hard to find much to disagree with in this assessment.

[borkrules]

Some people won't take anything less than 100% of what they want, and right now, dammit!

They usually get 0% of what they want along with well deserved ridicule and contempt from those who see the wisdom, in a deeply divided nation, of taking those victories as we can, when we can, and living to fight again another day for the next victory.

The looney-tunes of the far-far-far-right again reveal themselves. Geez, this is a WIN for crying out loud!

[MississippiMan]

I've been pointing out this exact problem with the bill language for three days, pointing out that it's nothing but a paper tiger that does NOT ban partial-birth abortion. And the politicians crowing about its passage are fully aware of this fact. Disgusting. And telling.

MM

[Ronin]

It's a start. Sometimes it seems like stopping the liberal agenda is like shoveling back the tide with a fork, but this bill/law is definite progress.

But if it wasn't having any effect, the abortion industry wouldn't be so paranoid about it.

It isn't the law I would like to see, and it may not make it through the Supreme Court, but it IS progress.

Until we can get some more conservative judges on the bench (which, obviously requires getting some more Republican Senators in office and growing backbones in the Senators that are there) we should stop complaining about the fights we do win.

[1stFreedom]

>>Furthermore this bill would only insure that unborn children would be murdered in some other hideous fashion

This may be true, however, there is something especially wrong when a child is murdered during it's "intiation" as a citizen. Remember, we become citizens at birth. Think about it, if it's ok to murder a citizen, then how safe are you?

Yea, it's a fine line, I mean, it's not ok to murder a Human (14th amendment), but to murder a CITIZEN is an absolute constitutional travesty.

And what Mr. Terry doesn't recognize is that this ban has helped to change the opinions of Americans.

To me, the most influential events in the Pro-life history has been:

The airing of the Silent Scream
The pope challenging us to defend life with Klinton in the background
Moma T taking Clinton to task at the annual prayer brakfast

Randall did a good job of waking the evangelical community and bringing together different denominations.

Ultimately, he was the success and the downfall of the "rescue" movement. Long back before OR faithful Catholics were sitting in at mills participating in "non-violent direct action" -- closing mills down.

Terry helped to bring this type of protest into the Evangelical churches and it started a wildfire. Over 80,000 people were arrested during the clinic blockades.

Yet, the concietedness and bible thumping of Mr. Terry often alienated others. I distinctly remember him giving a keynote address at an HLI conference where he said something to the effect of "i'm sorry but Jesus didn't change the death penalty" in reference to the Pope's tightening the teachings on the it.

Now Mr. Terry has to deal with the fact that Jesus didn't do away with the eternal bond of marriage. Mr. Terry has remarried and allegedly his former wife and family needs more support. Mr. Terry, who supposedly is broke, was/is in the process of purchasing a rather expensive home. Funds have been solicited for a trust fund that many mistakenly think are going to his old family when [allegedly] they are going to his new family.

I sincerely believe that Mr. Terry, while bringing abortion to the forefront for many Christians, ultimately gave into his ego instead of the will of God. What I mean is that often we confuse the Will of God with OUR will. I believe he ended up following his will, starting with his fight against the homosexual issue in the northeast (VT/NH?? I forget). From what I understand this is where the breakup of his marriage started/intensified.

Now most mainstream pro-lifers distance themselves from Mr. Terry. He has too much baggage. The pro-life movement had done very well without him in the limelight the past few years.

For him to criticize the bill only props him up while helping to contribute to the internal split within the pro-life movement. And it does nothing to influence the voting public. The PBA ban has done more to influence voters than Mr. Terry has.

So, people should recognize when their time has passed.

[Zack Nguyen]

"This bill, if it becomes law, may not save one child's life. The Federal Courts are likely to strike it down. Furthermore this bill would only insure that unborn children would be murdered in some other hideous fashion.

This is true. However, I think the political benefits and educational benefits for the American voting public regarding what abortion actually is are worth the effort in passing this bill.

[Richard Kimball]

It's the first step. Let's be sure and insult and degrade it. I think it's wonderful the way we conservatives do our best to turn every political victory into a defeat.

[FreedomCalls]

"If the President and Congress want to accomplish a small, but real step, they should outlaw all abortions after 20 weeks -- the age when a baby can live outside the womb," states Randall Terry, Founder of Operation Rescue, and President of the Society for Truth and Justice."

OK, let's do just that.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Taking Randall Terry's advice on scams is in the same category as using Negerian email writers as your personal bankers.

[Keyes2000mt]

I would ask Mr. Terry if he has passed one law that saves the lives of unborn children.

Would he have upbraided William Wilberforce for fighting the slave trade because after all banning the slave trade wouldn't free one slave?

While I tire of those who see no chance of victory on the pro-life issue and have such a narrow vision that they can not even imagine a day when abortion will be illegal.

But I have much less patience for people who cannot accept a single step forward, a positive action taken by the Congress of the United State where a bipartisan majority agreed overwhelmingly that there is still enough respect for human life that there is a line to be drawn.

[MissAmericanPie]

I read the bill, it is more like an instruction manual for how to do a partial birth abortion without breaking the new law against it.

[m1-lightning]

A practical analysis by Randall Terry. It is indeed a PR goldmine and a political scam.

It's more like an uneducated rant. If you haven't been to the NRLC website in the last year, you should check it out. NRLC and many other groups have been lobbying Congress to take action against PBA because they believe that the description of the process is enough to justify a ban.

If you haven't noticed, the Senators aren't total idiots. They know that an outright ban of abortion would not get through the courts. But a ban on specific abortions would get their toes wet to see how cold the water is.

You're right, At best, the bill is a Supreme Court test. Which is exactly how I see it. Bush knows he needs one more conservative justice on the SC to overturn Nazis vs. civilization. Even the Dems aren't dumb. The've Demabustered every pro-life threat to the SC. There's no way the Senate could be so dumb as to think the ban would prevent abortions.

The bottom line is:
Anyone who says this was a political stunt to gain votes is a jealous Democrat or fearful liberal.