Last week a headline read, "Virginia Senate Passes Ultrasound Bill." The story was about an ultrasound bill being moved through the Virginia state legislature, the cries from the pro-aborts that the bill was an assault on women, and a pro-life governor's weak response. According to the article, Governor Bob McDonnell stated, "Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. ... No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure."
What's wrong with this picture? Let us unpack his words. The "invasive procedure" which offends the governor is the use of a transvaginal ultrasound to detect the heartbeat of a preborn baby. For those not familiar with this procedure, a transvaginal ultrasound requires the insertion of a probe in order to detect the preborn child or to detect various bodily structures. Contrast this with a simple pelvic exam which most women have at least annually during their childbearing years. Contrast this as well with the dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure which also requires foreign objects to be inserted vaginally - and at times has the express purpose of killing a preborn child at some point between his sixth and twelfth week of life. So while the pro-aborts have no problem with practices designed to examine a woman or kill a preborn child, they decry a test used to make sure that same preborn human being is alive and has a beating heart. Astonishingly, McDonnell fell for the argument - hook, line, and killer.
Note the other disingenuous aspect of McDonnell's statement as he alludes to "another medical procedure." Of course he is referencing the actual abortion of a human being, but in today's linguistic deception, he need not be explicit in his references.
While McDonnell has been described as pro-life, it appears that that is nothing more than a convenient label worn to gain votes at election time. In the day-to-day practice of being a governor, he governs by a different standard. One point for the pro-aborts; death for the innocent - that is what the McDonnell betrayal is really all about.
Hidden beneath this current discussion, however, is a broader problem which some pro-life Americans are willing to either ignore or reject. And that is that being pro-life has begun to mean nothing when it comes to defending intrinsic human rights for all - from each individual's biological beginning until his death.
Currently as McDonnell betrays his own principles, there are a host of other politicians doing the same. After all, it is election season - a season in which words become as disposable as toilet paper and can mean little to nothing at all.
Ask McDonnell. Even now as he steps away from the token position of asking that a baby's heartbeat be detected before the killing occurs, pro-lifers are arguing that he's a good guy because, after all, he still supports a "modified bill."
No wonder abortions continue nearly unabated in this country. Without a score card you can't distinguish one camp from the other in situations like this one. God save us from our friends.
As one wise political science professor said, "You have to spend 90 percent of your time keeping an eye on your friends so you can spend 10 percent of your time fighting the enemy."
Or to put it another way in this era of double standards, one can be just about as pro-life as one needs to be to gain power, but after that anything goes.
Just ask Virginia's governor, Bob McDonnell.