April (Web-only) 2001

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Speaking of prolife ethics …
A New York Times editorial takes note of the Kopp apprehension and the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that militant antiabortion site The Nuremberg Files was protected by the First Amendment, and concludes that a woman's right to choose abortion is under massive siege. "We do not question the sincerity of John Ashcroft, a fierce opponent of abortion rights throughout his political career, when he says he will enforce the nation's laws, as he reiterated Thursday," the editorial said. "But the real issue is whether the attorney general will go beyond that, and place the defense of this besieged constitutional right where it belongs—atop his list of priorities." John Ashcroft should make defending abortion his top priority? Puh-leeze. Ashcroft will do that just as soon as The New York Times makes opposing gay marriage its top priority.

On the topics of The New York Timesand abortion—and homosexuality, for that matter—Weblog should have linked a couple weeks ago to Andrew Sullivan's article in The New York Times Magazine, in which he argued that the culture wars are over. "While there are still plenty of inflammatory moments, and plenty of opportunities for dissent, the crackle of cultural gunfire is now increasingly distant," he wrote, attributing the ...