The Left Doesn't Get It

I was listening to The Diane Rehm Show yesterday on NPR, and John McCain was the guest. He is of course out hawking his new book, and of course all anyone wants to talk about is the anti-torture bill he is trying to enact and the Iraqi war in general.

Well, a caller called in asking McCain if he thought the Constitution included a Right To Privacy, and if not would he be in favor of an amendment specifying/enumerating a Right To Privacy.

McCain answered, paraphrasing, "I know where you're going with this, The Patriot Act, right? And I agree--"

...at which point the caller interrupted saying, "Not just The Patriot Act, but other things, especially Roe v. Wade, where many say that the 1973 ruling was flawed because they don't believe there is a Right To Privacy in the Constitution"

... to which McCain replied that while he's in favor of an amendment guaranteeing the right to privacy, and that parts of the Patriot Act infringe on this, he's Pro-Life and doesn't think the Right To Privacy has anything to do with abortion.

Exactly. This is the point that many on the Left and/or pro-choice people don't get: there are many people who'd grant a right to privacy that still are anti-choice. To them abortion is murder, plain and simple, and no person has a "right to privacy" in order to commit a murder.

This is why I want to pull my hair out when many ask potential Supreme Court nominees if they "see a right to privacy in the Constitution" in an effort to get at their opinion on Roe v Wade specifically and a woman's right to choose in general. Alito, for example, appears to be saying that he believes there is a right to privacy at least implicitly put forth in the Constitution, and some pro-choice people are taking that as a hopeful sign.

To them I point to McCain's statement today.