To the editor:
It was September of 1996 when one of the most discussed and dramatic exchanges took place on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The Senate was debating a ban on partial-birth abortions.
Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania asked Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin a direct question: What if there was a mistake and the baby about to be killed was fully born? What should happen to the live baby? Senator Feingold responded that it was still up to the mother and her doctor to decide.
A shocking response but not so surprising. Once you decide the baby should die, why shouldn’t that outcome be available after the baby is born? Senator Feingold stepped neatly into the trap and in the process revealed just how extreme his abortion views are.
Barbara L. Lyons, executive director, Wisconsin Right to Life, Milwaukee