Elmer's Brother

Pretty amazing stuff from the last administration.

Swift Note Veterans Against Youth
Judicial Watch has been researching the Clinton administration's policy on RU-486, the abortion drug, and the final exhibit--it begins on page 60 of the PDF document linked above--makes for fascinating reading. It was written by Ron Weddington, who served as co-counsel, along with his better half, Sarah, in successfully arguing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that imposed abortion policies that remain among the world's most permissive.

The cover letter (p. 60) is dated Jan. 6, 1992, but the year seems to be an error, since the addressee, Betsey Wright, is identified as working for the transition team. In it, Weddington tells Wright of the four-page missive to the "President-to-Be" that follows that "I am going to try to get [it] published." Mission accomplished! Here are some excerpts:

I don't think you are going to go very far in reforming the country until we have a better educated, healthier, wealthier population. . . .

You can start immediately to eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of our country. No, I'm not advocating some sort of mass extinction of these unfortunate people. Crime, drugs and disease are already doing that. The problem is that their numbers are not only replaced but increased by the birth of millions of babies to people who can't afford to have babies.

There, I've said it. It's what we all know is true, but we only whisper it, because as liberals who believe in individual rights, we view any program which might treat the disadvantaged differently as discriminatory, mean-shpirited and...well...so Republican. . . .

I am not proposing that you send federal agents armed with Depo-Provera dart guns to the ghetto. You should use persuasion rather than coercion. You and Hillary are a perfect example. Could either of you have gone to law school and achieved anything close to what you have if you had three or four or more children before you were 20? No! You waited until you were established and in your 30's to have one child. That is what sensible people do. . . .

Having convinced the poor that they can't get out of poverty when they have all those extra mouths to feed, you will have to provide the means to prevent the extra mouths, because abstinence doesn't work. The religious right has had 12 years to preach its message. It's time to officially recognize that people are going to have sex and what we need to do as a nation is prevent as much disease and as many poor babies as possible. . . .

There have been 30 million abortions in this country since Roe v. Wade. Think of all the poverty, crime and misery...and then add 30 million unwanted babies to the scenario. We lost a lot of ground during the Reagan-Bush religious orgy. We don't have a lot of time left. . . .

The biblical exhortation to "be fruitful and multiply" was directed toward a small tribe, surrounded by enemies. We are long past that. Our survival depends upon our developing a population where everyone contributes. We don't need more cannon fodder. We don't need more parishioners. We don't need more cheap labor. We don't need more poor babies.

Hat tip: Ramesh Ponnuru. This pretty much speaks for itself, although it does seem worth noting that the three sentences before the last one contradict everything else he's saying--unless you think soldiers, churchgoers and low-paid workers don't contribute to society.

Also creepy is Weddington's postscript: "I was co-counsel in Roe v. Wade, [and] have sired zero children and one fetus, the abortion of which was recently recounted by my ex-wife in her book, A Question of Choice. (Grosset/Putnam, 1992) I had a vasectomy in 1969 and have never had one moment of regret."

It's a bit reminiscent of the closing paragraph in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal":

I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing.

Only Swift was kidding.

Here's an update:

President Bill Clinton's first official act as President was to fast-track the dangerous RU-486 abortion drug to
"eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of the country." In the just-released report entitled "The Clinton RU-486 Files," Clinton received the advice in a letter from Ron Weddington, whose wife, Sarah, had advocated for the legal right to abortion as an attorney in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.

The report says that pressure from the Clinton administration led the FDA to circumvent the standard requirements for certifying a drug as "safe and effective" in order to rush the abortion regimen to market.

For the compelling CNSNews.com report: http://www.mrcaction.org/r.asp?u=762