Whatever the outcome of the impeachment trial, historians will no doubt record that the impeachment of President Clinton could not have occurred without the help of feminists. They, after all, pushed hard for a 1994 law that allowed harassment lawyers to explore the sexual histories of men accused of sexual harassment.
Without the law, President Clinton could not have been questioned under oath about Monica Lewinsky in the Paula Jones case. No Monica, no need to lie, no impeachment. It's about as simple as that.
The case against the president apparently turned the tables on this issue. You see, conservatives have been the ones generally concerned about laws that open up a person's private life merely on the basis of an accusation. But in this case, most are so grateful that the law was used against the president, that they have been relatively silent.
On the other hand, feminists have been pushing for such laws and would be applauding the application of it, if it weren't for the fact that President Clinton has been the target. While they may not condone his behavior, they appreciate his politics and so have been relatively silent as well.
Well, I won't be silent on this issue. Sexual harassment is a serious accusation, but that doesn't justify subjecting a person's sex life to public scrutiny. The way the law is written, a woman can accuse her boss, her professor, her colleague of sexual harassment and thereby open up his entire private life to public inspection and potential ridicule.
That's why there is a movement afoot to get Congress to pass an omnibus harassment bill to bring some balance to the current legal climate. The problem is that those most likely to support the bill have been too distracted by the impeachment trial. It's time to revise the law.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.
© 1998 Probe Ministries International