Many pro-lifers continue to hope that a pro-life justice will be appointed to the Supreme Court. Those who observed what happened last year in Pennsylvania know better. Arlen Specter, the liberal Republican (in name only) and ardent pro-abortion Senator, the man who led the battle against Robert Bork, the man who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and has great power to prevent pro-life nominees from making it through the system, almost lost to a strong pro-life Republican in a primary election last year. But with the strong support of President George Bush, Specter managed to squeak by his opponent. Some details are provided in Timothy Carney’s column at National Review Online. In the primary campaign, pro-life Republican Rep. Pat Toomey was taking on Specter and making abortion a central issue. His pro-life position was gaining the favor of many Republicans, and he may well have won. When the chips were down for Specter, President Bush came into the state and lent Specter much-needed support. Cheney also spoke in favor of Specter. With the help of the Bush Administration, Specter beat Toomey, 527,000 votes to 510,000 votes. And now, instead of a pro-life Senator, we have the man who saved Roe v. Wade not just in the Senate, but as chair of the critical Senate Judiciary Committee.

If we are to make progress in standing up for the value of all human life, if we are to halt the flow of innocent blood being shed by the abortion industry, we cannot look for true support at the top, either in the Supreme Court or the White House. Any hope for a pro-life justice on the Supreme Court in the next few years is delusional, though there may be some vain attempts at nominating pro-lifers to keep us happy and hopeful and inactive.

I think we must work at a grassroots level to educate, to provide alternatives to abortion, to promote morality, and to elect honorable men and women to Congress who will dare to speak out for the innocent and weak.