A commentator wonders why pro-choice men aren’t as numerous or as vocal as their pro-life counterparts. But the answer is so simple that only a pro-choice pundit could miss it.

Sometimes you just have to be thankful for your enemies. Case in point: The maelstrom surrounding the pro-life Super Bowl ad starring Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow. I’m sure the spot would have been very effective in and of itself, but the discussion its opponents have sparked is something money just can’t buy. Thanks to them, we’re again talking about abortion. And every time we do, pro-lifers win converts.

This has caused much consternation within the abortion lobby, and a good example is pundit Hugh Ryan at The Daily Beast. In a column titled “The Problem With [sic] Pro-Choice Men,” he notes that men are abandoning the pro-abortion position and that those who do support the cause are seldom too vocal about it. They just cannot match the passion of a Mel Gibson, Ben Stein, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Stephen Baldwin or Kirk Cameron, he laments.

The national convention sponsored by Tea Party Nation convened on February 4 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Its organizers announced shortly before the convention opened that about 600 people had registered for the event — billed as “the First National Tea Party Convention” —  that runs through Saturday, February 6. Though tickets to the general convention events were sold out prior to the convention, the organizers were still offering tickets to the $349-a-plate Saturday night lobster dinner at which the keynote speaker is former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Two other conservative/constitutionalist political figures, U.S. Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R. Tenn., The New American’s most recent Freedom Index Score: 100%) and Michelle Bachman (R-Minn, TNA FI Score: 90%) each announced during the week before the event that she would not make her scheduled appearance at the convention. Both cited concerns about House ethics rules governing sitting members of Congress accepting speaker’s fees.

In “Why I'm speaking at Tea Party convention,” her article posted on the USA Today commentary forum on February 3, former Governor Palin wrote:

President Obama has called for doing away with the current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” program in the military. Following his recommendation will only make a bad situation worse.

Having served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, I know that having homosexuals in the military is harmful. When this topic was first broached by President Clinton soon after he took office in 1993, an article appeared in the Marine Corps Gazette entitled “Disband the Marine Corps.” Its author, Major Arthur J. Corbett, stated: “It would be better to disband … than see it dishonored and its virtues and values destroyed.”

As I pointed out in one chapter of my 1995 book Changing Commands: The Betrayal of America’s Military, several high officers resigned rather than continue serving alongside homosexuals. Marine Major Charles Johnson submitted his resignation in the wake of the Clinton announcement. He pointed to the harm that would flow from lifting the centuries-old ban on homosexuals. What harm? Johnson said, “It has been proven in history that a battle is a function of a small unit, no bigger than a squad of about 13 men.” He stressed that faith in others who will fight alongside fellow Marines and faith in one’s superiors is critical. And he had no doubt that placing homosexuals in the small unit, or as officers over the unit, would court disaster.