a better way, part 1

Jim Dobson, famous evangelical and head of Focus on the Family, seems to believe that global warming is less serious than abortion. We'll see what he thinks when the Florida coast is underwater.

Abortion is killing the Democratic party. It's a hugely resonant issue among Red State voters, and (I think, don't quote me on this) carries more single-issue voters to the Republican side than any other. Plus, it pits people of deep faith who have otherwise progressive values against progressives that just don't see what all the fuss is about. None of this is good for the country.

So, in lieu of the failed Democratic establishment having any ideas, I am going to come up with a better way. Here's my idea.

1) Compare outlawing abortion/overturning Roe to Prohibition. Making something illegal doesn't make it go away, it just makes it go underground and fills up our already overcrowded prisons even further. Of course, nobody should have an abortion if they can help it; abortion is gross and unpleasant (not to mention abhorrent, if you fear the wrath of God). So....

2) Just like government is uniquely capable of providing schools and roads and bank insurance, it is equally well-equipped to help stem the bloody tide of baby bits ending up in dumpsters all across America (but not in the Deep South). The federal government should oversee a national network of adoption agencies, providing funding, staffing, and responsible oversight so that babies have a safe place to stay between the time they are born and the time they are adopted. A simultaneous, sustained television/paper/school/church campaign touting the benefits of adoption to both the mother and child would begin, hopefully with the cooperation of the Ad Council (their stuff is always so snappy).

3) In case hearing it from the pastor, the teacher, and the tube wasn't enough, the government (probably on a state level, with some degree of federal reimbursement) can offer financial breaks to women who agree to carry their baby to term and put it up for adoption. Stopping short of paying a woman to have a kid, the government can offer, through Medicaid, to cover all expenses related to pre- and post-natal medical care, ensuring that Mom gives birth to a happy, healthy kid. (Exceptions for special cases; birth defects, situations where the mother refuses to quit smoking/drinking/doing drugs during pregnancy, AIDS babies, etc.)

4) And, to close the loop, the federal (and state) governments can offer refundable tax credits (the best kind) on children adopted through the federal government's program, starting out large enough to help defray the costs of raising a baby, and then slowly being reduced over the first 18 years of life so that the parents can rely on a little help from their fearless leaders in Washington as they care for a child that really just needed a loving mom/mom/dad/dads in the first place.

The progressives get to oversee an expansion of Medicaid to help the truly needy, women in fragile situations receive care worthy of the most advanced nation in the world, the evangelicals get to root for adoption and against abortion while handing out pamphlets printed by the government, and the conservatives get a tax credit. Everyone goes home happy.