Abortion to Hijack Alito Nomination

Given the recent media spate regarding a job application from then job-seeking lawyer and now Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito regarding his personal political belief that abortion is not guaranteed by the Constition, the media field day is underway. The result will be that an issue that is largely settled as a matter of law and not subject to a great deal of change in public opinion is going to, once again, hijack the nomination proceedings of a potential justice.

First, on a strict reading of the Constitution, Alito is right. There is no right to abortion, explicit or implicit, in the Constitution. In fact, the right to privacy, which is often cited as the basis for abortion rights, does not exist explicitly in the Constitution, although a strong case can be made for the inference.

Second, this is a job application, where one often puffs and spins one's credentials to get a job. We have all done it at one time or another in our careers, is Samuel Alito somehow not permitted?

But once again, abortion is going to take center stage in a nomination battle when the issue of abortion, at least as it is currently defined by Planned Parenthood, NARAL and Right to Life Committees, is irrelevant.

As I have argued before, the issue is not abortion, but rather how abortion may be used in the future. Aside from the most conservative right advocates, most people will be willing to accept abortion for cases of rape or incest. Others may draw the permissive line at abortion to protect the physical health of the mother.

Extremist abortion supporters often demand abortion on demand in any case, but even most "right to choose" advocates balk at completely unrestricted abortion. So what should be the issue, at least when it comes to abortion?

Should we, as a society, permit abortion for sex selection? Is aborting a fetus who MAY have developmental disabilities permissible? Assuming scientists find a gene that causes homosexuality, can or should we abort that child? What if the child has a genetic test for a disposition toward cancer or other debilitating diseases, is abortion permissible in those cases?

The issue is not abortion itself, but all of these sides to the issue. Do I think Alito disapproves of abortion on a personal level? Probably. Do I think he is going to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade? I don't know, but I doubt it since such a move carries a number of unintended consequences with it. But how does Alito's views on abortion handle all of these side issues.

As the Cato Institute writes, the key issue for the Court isn't abortion, but a whole host of other issues. Cato urges the Senate to look at property rights and federalism. I think the Senate needs to focus on civil rights and liberties in times of national crisis.

But sadly, the media doesn't care as much about those issues because they are complicated and involve matters that tend not to create such bright lines of division like abortion, even though the many issues of abortion are so complex it makes federalism issues look downright third grade.