One Piece of Unfinished Election Business

Not if you are a pro-lifer. We won the presidency, 11 homosexual marriage bans, and morals values votes across the country. But that's not how Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania saw it the morning after his own reelection victory.

The pro-abortion Specter was endorsed by actor Michael J. Fox for his pro-cloning stance. He's in line to be the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The current chairman, Orrin Hatch, is constrained by term limits and the tradition of seniority gives the seat to Specter.

But there's no constitutional or procedural rule mandating that Specter become judiciary chairman in the Senate. And there's no reason Americans of good will shouldn't let their Republican senators know that a Judiciary Chairman Specter is simply unacceptable.

Comparing Roe with Brown v. Board of Education, Specter warned president Bush on Nov. 3 against nominating pro-life conservative judges for the Supreme Court. Though the president won reelection with a majority of the popular vote — and his party picked up a 55-seat majority in the Senate (beyond the expectations of many), Specter freelanced his view that Election Day 2004 was a victory for pro-abortion Republicans. The Republican platform and the president's record on life suggest otherwise.

Why, after such a historic electoral victory would Republicans — a conservative, pro-life majority in Washington, D.C. — allow Specter to hold one of the most vital positions in the Senate? As judiciary chairman, he would be a potentially devastating obstacle in the way of appointing good men and women to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court will determine our future abortion and marriage laws. The nine men and women there will decide if banning infanticide is acceptable or not. And Arlen Specter, darling of Planned Parenthood, will do all he can to keep judges of faith from being among them, if he is chairman of the Senate committee that confirms them.

Simply put, after all of our help to the president and his party in this election, pro-lifers should not accept Arlen Specter as judiciary chair.

If you agree, call and email your Republican senators today.

The Senate switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to the offices of the Republican senators from your state.

I'm told that an overwhelming outcry from voters ASAP is the only way Arlen Specter can be kept from doing his best to undo the pro-life victories of Nov. 2.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.