When asked about the challenge to federal ban on dilation and extraction late-term abortions, President Bush declined to comment (which is, in itself, rather surprising).

When pressed, he vaguely replied:

However, he said, “My position has always been three exceptions: rape, incests and the life of the mother.” Asked if he would include the broader category of health of the mother, Bush said: “No. I said life of the mother, and health is a very vague term, but my position has been clear on that ever since I started running for office.”

And there you have it. The "every life is precious" meme carried to its natural conclusion: the quality of that life is irrelevant, especially if its a woman's life.

We saw this a year ago with Terri Schiavo. These people don't care about personal privacy, let alone the health and well-being of individuals. All they care about is blind faith to some vague ideology of life at any cost.

A ectopic pregnancy or pregnancy with other complications can seriously impair a woman's health, even if it does not kill her. And contrary to popular myth, sometimes what doesn't kill us also does not make us stronger.

But you heard it from the President's own mouth: he doesn't care about women's health. And what of those babies he and his cohorts would have borne into this world despite injuries such births would cause their mothers or the inability of their parents to properly care for and nourish those infants? Cuts to WIC, cuts to post-natal care, cuts to any programs that could give those wee little ones a fighting chance.

Frankly, this disgusts me. Reasonable people can have disagreements about whether or not abortion is a decision they would make for themselves. And if a woman chooses not to abort a fertilized egg, bully for her. But I also say that if a woman makes a decision that aborting that cluster of cells is the right one for her, well then bully for her too. She's making an informed, responsible decision. And nobody else has the right to make that decision for her.

And don't even get me started about the young woman who editorialized in today's Wildcat about the D&E late-term abortion ban. This young woman, who wouldn't have the luxury of broadcasting her ill-informed and ill-researched opinion were it not for her feminist foremothers, argues that the ban is perfectly reasonable and she hopes the Supremes reinstate it with a newly reconstituted bench.

Her argument is really silly. She bases much of her piece on the fact that Congress inserted language in the law that says that the procedure is never medically necessary to preserve the life of the mother (they don't care about the mother's health, remember). Yes, Congress inserted that language CONTRARY TO the testimony of virtually every medical doctor and health professional who testified before all the committees that needed to hear the bill in the process. Very few of those Members of Congress are medically trained, and the ones who are I wouldn't trust treating a papercut (unless of course they plan to make the diagnosis via remote video).

So I return to my emerging theme: blinded by ideology, the national Republican majority cares more about politics than about your health. Life may be sacrosanct to them, but they could care less how well you're living it (unless you're having "too much" sex, drinking "too much", doing drugs or any combination of the same).