Sorry, Condi

I've always admired Condi Rice, going back to her days as a National Security Council staffer in the Bush 41 administration. When Bush 43 chose her as his National Security Adviser, I applauded. When he made her Secretary of State, I thought that it was the best choice he had made for his cabinet since becoming President.

Now Rice is being mentioned as a possible Republican presidential nominee, for 2008. But that would not be possible without destroying the Republican electoral coalition (the same holds true for Rudy Giuliani). Rice is pro-choice on abortion, and for her to characterize that position as "mildly" pro-choice is ridiculous on its face. There is nothing mild about abortion. Here she is talking about abortion to the Washington Times:

Miss Rice said abortion should be "as rare a circumstance as possible," although without excessive government intervention. "We should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other.

"So, for instance, I've tended to agree with those who do not favor federal funding for abortion, because I believe that those who hold a strong moral view on the other side should not be forced to fund it."

Describing pro-lifers as "the other side" is one of the ways Miss Rice articulates her position as a "mildly pro-choice" Republican. She explained that she is "in effect kind of libertarian on this issue," adding: "I have been concerned about a government role.

"I am a strong proponent of parental notification. I am a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be.

"We ought to have a culture that says, 'Who wants to have an abortion? Who wants to see a daughter or a friend or a sibling go through something like that?' "

I'm never sympathetic when someone declares herself a "libertarian" on the abortion issue. The taking of innocent life is not a "liberty option." It is in fact a moral issue before anything else, and the only moral conclusion to be drawn about it is that it is wrong. No matter how convenient abortion might be, and no matter how out of sight the victim is, abortion is wrong. It is the taking of a new human life.

Rice talks about how she thinks abortion should be "rare." Well, Condi, it isn't rare. It's common, and it's being commonly used as a form of "negative option" birth control. I'm all for "choice," but I'm for a choice that's made before a child is conceived, not after the fact. To be "mildly pro-choice" on abortion is akin to being "a little bit pregnant."

Views on abortion like Rice's are essentially indistinguishable from those of Hillary Clinton, and if Rice or any other pro-choice candidate is nominated by the Republican Party it will destroy the Republican coalition and smother its moral conscience.