The story by Mimi Hall, who interviewed White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, says the right to life isn’t even on the Bush’s list of priorities. "It’s [abortion] a high moral priority for the president," he said, "but his public policy priorities are education, tax reform and tax reduction, reforming Social Security, reforming the Medicare system and improving our national defense."

This is nothing new. George Bush never said he intended to do anything to end abortion. In fact, he said clearly that the country isn’t ready for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. This, despite the growing opposition to abortion among the American people. He refused to say he would select pro-life individuals as nominees to the federal bench and Supreme Court. He made no promises in return for pro-life support. His rhetorical support of parental notification, informed consent, a partial-birth abortion ban, abstinence education and stronger adoption laws simply nibble around the edges of a great and evil national tragedy, but they have little to do with the restoration of the fundamental right to life. This was very clear during the campaign. President Bush has broken no campaign promises to pro-life constituents because he didn’t make any. The idea that Bush was going to be a "pro-life President" was solely the creation of certain national pro-life and religious leaders. In fact, President Bush justifies abortion for babies who are conceived as a result of rape or incest, a position that denies that the right to life is inherent in every human being from conception, and one that, in the end, poses no substantial threat to legal abortion.

USA Today reports that "in order to win a second term," Bush and his advisors are hoping to "improve his standing among women, most of whom voted for Al Gore last fall," a view that ignores the fact that women are more pro-life than men. "And," the story continues, "as he tries to push an ambitious agenda through the evenly divided Senate, he can’t afford to alienate Republican lawmakers who support abortion rights."

Should any of the legislation currently supported by pro-life groups, such as the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, go to President Bush for his signature, he can rest assured that they do not address the fundamental question of the right to life, but will simply restrict or regulate the practice of abortion -- without threatening its legality. On Wednesday, President Bush expressed his support for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a bill that would make it a crime to kill an unborn child in the course of a felonious assault on the baby’s mother. While the bill makes it a crime to incidentally kill an unborn child, it unfortunately recognizes the right of anyone to kill him directly by abortion. There is something wrong with that picture.

Momentous right to life policy issues related to human embryonic stem cell research, cloning, genetic screening and chemical abortions, just to name a few, are hanging in the balance. Federal judicial nominations are being prepared to fill 99 vacancies. Remember, George Bush was not asked to make any commitments and he didn’t give any. As long as pro-life leaders and citizens continue to do what they have been doing they will keep getting what they’ve been getting. Politicians should never expect to receive our support unless they publicly commit to advancing our cause, before the election.