Bush is Not Pro-Life Enough

So complains influential and respected Catholic bloggers Amy Welborn and Mark Shea because 1) the Prez didn't mention abortion in his recent State of the Union Address and 2) he didn't personally appear at the March for Life protest yesterday.

From a substantive standpoint, I myself don't think President Bush is "perfect" on the general issue of life, as exemplefied by his limited allowance of embryonic stem cell research and his seemingly uncritical support of the death penalty. However, insofar as abortion is concerned, Bush has publicly done more to support and uphold the rights of the unborn than any other U.S. President in recent history. See, e.g., the signing of the partial-birth abortion ban, proclamation of the National Sanctity of Human Life Day, and the nomination of several pro-life and pro-life leaning individuals to the judiciary. In light of these acts, for folks like Welborn and Shea to lambast Bush simply because he didn't mention abortion in a speech or personally show up at a rally down the street from the White House is downright silly. Indeed, one wonders what Welborn and Shea must think of the Pope, since I don't believe he has mentioned abortion in any of his Wednesday General Audience talks for quite some time.