“For years, a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth, while the law looked the other way. Today, at last, the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.” With those words, President George W. Bush signed into law the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

We live in an age of distraction and artificial controversies. The most important news is often buried in the back pages of the newspaper–if covered at all. The truly significant developments of recent days relate to the sanctity of human life and the scandal of abortion, and to those developments we now turn.

The state of Florida executed Paul Hill last night, thus putting an end to his life, but not to the controversy he came to represent. He went to the execution chamber without regret or remorse, and stated that he would kill more abortionists if given the opportunity.

“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia,” said Winston Churchill. “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Churchill made this evaluation in 1939 as Europe exploded in war. Some things never change, and Russia remains an enigma, still capable of surprises.

Thirty years later, it is now clear that the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision marks the onset of the nation’s full-blown culture war. Since then, more than 40-million babies have been murdered, and Roe still stands. The decision represents a breathtaking exhibition of judicial arrogance. The Court’s majority was determined to legalize abortion, and the decision was just a legal rationalization for imposing this new “right.”