Morton Kondracke writes: “The right insists that life begins at conception and that therefore abortion and embryonic stem-cell research constitute murder.

“Yet, if this were truly the basis of its belief, fetuses should be baptized as soon as it’s clear a woman is pregnant and miscarriages should be the cause for a funeral and a religious burial.

“No moderate would say that destruction of a human embryo is of no moral consequence – it constitutes a potential human life – yet there’s ground for suspicion that some religious conservatives are as much about punishing illicit sexual activity as they are about saving ‘life.’”

If Kondracke thinks the no-funeral point proves anything, then I assume he takes the fact that there are no funerals after many miscarriages that happen at eight months to justify abortion (and research on fetuses) at that stage. That may be the law of the land, but it’s hardly moderate.

But it’s the bit about sex where he makes no sense at all. If punishing illicit sexual activity were the point, why would these religious conservatives care about embryonic stem-cell research at all? We’re not talking about embryos created the old-fashioned way. Even the name-calling of pro-lifers as “flat earthers” and religious nuts looks like smart commentary by comparison.