Certainly, conservatives have no monopoly on favoring rigid ideology over scientifically demonstrated fact. But nobody on the pro-choice side has ever claimed that an embryo or a fetus is "merely a bunch of undifferentiated cells." That description applies to the pre-embryonic stage known as a blastocyst, from which so-called "embryonic" stem cells are harvested for research. Your characterization of abortion providers is simply a straw man -- or a straw fetus.

Thank you Mr Shapiro for your well thought out pieces. I have been following two of the debates you mention, the abortion debate (from the early 70's) and the gay marriage debate. In the abortion debate there have been those including the late Carl Sagan (Parade early 90's) who sought to undermine the humanity of the fetus (Latin I believe for baby) which is a human being in the first stage of development. Re the gay marriage issue; it is worth learning how homosexuality was de-listed as abnormal behaviour, not because Psychiatrists met, discussed the issue rationally and made a decision. Rather it was done by political coup, militant homosexuals disrupting set meetings and intimidating participating psychiatrists. What also isn't mentioned in the debate is just what happens in the parks of San Francisco at night - the bathhouses where promiscuity reigned there have a replacement. Neither does anyone talk about the pastor in San Francisco whose house and church were firebombed (May 31 1983)because he spoke against homosexuality. See McIlhenny 's book "When The Wicked Seize A City".

One would have to be an idiot to believe the stuff the Mr. Shapiro is spewing. He "thinks" that liberals, in general, know less about science than right-wingers. Given that many right-wingers "think" that evolution is religion and the Bible is a scientific theory (creationists assert this) it's safe to say that right-wingers, in general, don't have a clue about what science is.

If Mr. Shapiro cared about science he'd be trying to explain to his fellow right-wingers that evolution has been shown to occur and the Genesis 1-3 isn't a scientific theory. Mr. Shapiro goes in for dishonest propaganda and outright idiocy. It's unlikely Mr. Shapiro cares about science.