Hysteria + Hypocrisy = Righteous Wrong-Headedness

One last ( I promise) comment on my favorite hypocrisy inherent in all the hoopla surrounding Ms. Schiavo's sad case - that of the "Right to Life" credo that all life is sacred. There is something appealing about the simplicity of the argument, but the argument falls apart when, as so often happens, it is not applied with equal fervor or interest to preserving the lives of everyone. Why should the life of a zygote be more important than the woman carrying the fertilized egg? Why aren't anti-abortion proponents fighting just as hard to reverse laws that allow for criminals to be put to death? Why has the religious right remained supportive of a Bush administration that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of humans in Iraq when it is well-documented that our reasons for going to war were trumped-up falsehoods? Why do leaders like Senator Bill Frist find it necessary to defend their support of Ms. Schiavo's parents based on what he believes is the quality of their daughter's current existence? If one applies the test of conviction that "all life is sacred," then surely the question of whether or not Ms. Schiavo has the functional ability to understand her situation, experience pain or ulitmately recover from her current medical state is completely moot. Life is life. A true believer needn't parse the particulars. But of course, silly me, that isn't at all what any of these "right to life" conniptions are really about, are they?