I stumbled upon this quote earlier this week.  Shortly after taking office, the chosen one made the following comment on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade.  He said that Roe  “stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”

At face value, it would appear that there is a fundamental principle to avoid government interference in family matters.  So let’s think of the following hypotheticals:

  • Why is education of children compulsory?  How I choose to educate or not educate my children is a private family matter. Why does the government get to interfere by setting curriculum standards and require certain testing to make sure I’m meeting their standards?
  • How I choose to discipline my children is also a private family matter.  How dare someone call child protective services simply because I think the way to raise them is to lock them in dark cages without food or water for days when they misbehave!  Whether I choose to whip my kids severely for backtalking is a private family matter.
  • My spouse was killed by a hit and run drunk driver and I’m a single parent of 4 kids.  I was making a fine living until I got laid off from my job and haven’t been able to find a new one.  We were getting by on savings just fine for a while, but now it’s getting a little tough to pay the bills and get food on the table, and the kids have outgrown their shoes.  This is a private family matter, so I suppose the government shouldn’t interfere and provide things like unemployment compensation, food stamps, or Medicaid.  Survival of the fittest!
  • I have a wife and a couple kids.  I’m not too fond of the lady anymore so I’ve been spending most of my evenings getting hammered at various bars, and I’ve been having affairs with 2 other women.  Now the old lady wants a divorce and is suing for custody of the kids.  Why does the judge get to decide where the kids go? This is a private matter; the government should keep out.
  • I know that most people have better chances of survival if they wear a seatbelt, but I find it uncomfortable.  I also think that I can hold my baby better in my lap than if he was in a carseat, and it’s more comfortable that way for me and baby.  Therefore we have made a private family decision to never buckle up.  The police have no business issuing us citations.

Okay, the above are somewhat preposterous, but you could make a case for each of the above based on Obama’s statement. 

Mr. President, if you truly believe what you wrote, then watch out.  Because all kinds of government regulations that you favor would quickly become obsolete.  No more child protective services to get abused kids out of homes.  No more government run/funded battered women shelters.  No more social welfare programs. No more family courts. No more oversight of private and home-schools.

In other words, by claiming this stupid idea, you’re going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  That’s not what you want.  You just want to throw the baby out with the medical waste. 

And yet somehow, this guy is found deserving of an honorary law degree by a[n ostensibly] Catholic university.