Harriet Miers - On the Record II - Clinic Bombings

Seriously, this time.

Everyone, whether they support the president's choice or not, will want to know where Harriet Miers stands on reproductive rights.

Ms. Miers, then Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, hosted an "Ask the White House" forum on August 11, 2004 during which she fielded a question about abortion clinic bombings in reference to the pursuit and prosecution of terrorists.

Tim, from Pottstown, PA writes:

What does the President plan to do to crack down on domestic terrorists? An example of this would be the terrorists who bomb abortion clincs. We are rightly focused on foreign terrorists but the trial of Terry Nickol this week should serve to remind us that we have homegrown terror threats as well.

Harriet Miers

Tim, the President created the Department of Homeland Security, the most sweeping Federal reorganization since the Cold War. This department has a central mission: to protect the American people against any kind of terrorist activity. The President will continue to fight for tough measures to reduce crime, to help make our communities safe. One of his efforts is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national strategy to reduce gun violence. Gun prosecutions have increased by 68% and the violent crime rate is down 21% to a 30-year low.

Not only did Ms. Miers decline the opportunity to acknowledge that clinic bombings are terrorist acts, she failed to answer the question about domestic terrorists at all. After her generic remark about "any kind of terrorist activity," Ms. Miers went on to talk about law enforcement efforts to reduce gun violence. Terrorists do use guns, certainly, but they kill far more people with bombs than they do with bullets. Her response is non-sequitur.

Granted, "Ask the White House" is not likely the administration's preferred forum to define official policy, but who would deny that abortion clinic bombings are terrorist acts? That is not entirely a rhetorical question. Ordinarily, people who are sympathetic to abortion rights are quick to identify clinic bombings as what they are: terrorism. People who are hostile to abortion rights are, typically, far less likely to make such associations.