Clinton Partial-Birth Veto Was Callous

On Wednesday, April 10, President Clinton vetoed a proposed abortion bill which would have served to ban late-term abortions known as "partial-birth" abortions. It is the position of the Harvard Republican Club that President Clinton's veto was both a revolting and extraordinarily callous attempt to pander to the far-left and extremist abortion proponents. This pandering serves only to protect Clinton from backlash from the left wing of the Democratic Party, rather than to protect the unborn from an egregiously gruesome form of death.

In vetoing the bill, Clinton has, in essence, deemed acceptable a form of infanticide. Although evidenced by broad bi-partisan support throughout Congress for the ban, Clinton has taken it upon himself to ignore the sentiment of the American people. Though Clinton claimed that the reason for his veto was "to save a woman's life or to avert serious health consequences to her," he neglected to mention that the bill had a provision which provided for an exception to the ban if the abortion was "necessary to save the life of a mother whose life was in danger by a disorder, illness or injury, and if no other medical procedure would save her life." Therefore, the reason Clinton gave for vetoing the bill was nothing more than a smokescreen designed to mislead the American public.

We at the Harvard Republican Club call upon all students who deem this action by President Clinton irresponsible and inconsistent with the best interests of the American people to contact your representatives or senators immediately in order to show your outrage with the President's veto. --Jay M. Dickerson '98 President of the Harvard Republican Club