The first thing that strikes me (especially in comparing this Pledge to the Contract With America) is how much progress pro-lifers have made both in the arena of public opinion and the intra-Republican debate on the abortion question. The Contract avoided the subject like the plague. This document speaks plainly of a commitment to human life several times, lists abortion funding as a key reason for repealing Obamacare, and promises a government-wide Hyde Amendment. We haven’t been able to move the courts, and so there is much work to be done in combating this most grave injustice of our time (and not much that can be done by Congress, alas) but progress is progress, and this is definitely progress.See also Paul Ryan's statement from earlier this week -- no doubt in response to a bunch of bloggers who tried to imply he was going to sell them out, too."The cause of life can't be severed from the cause of freedom." Just so.
And while we're on the topic, here's a prime example of how fiscal conservatism is almost inherently pro-life, given what we spend money on. Chris Christie didn't run on social issues, though he is a pro-life Catholic. He ran on fiscal issues pretty much exclusively. But part of his belt-tightening included de-funding Planned Parenthood, which has led to the shuttering of at least one prominent abortoir.
