Obama Uses "Safe, Legal and Rare" Term in Answering Question on Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 28, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Obama Uses "Safe, Legal and Rare" Term in Answering Question on Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 28
, 2010

Albuquerque, NM (LifeNews.com) — President Barack Obama borrowed a page from pro-abortion ex-President Bill Clinton at a forum in New Mexico today, when he answered a question about abortion by saying it should be "safe, legal and rare." That’s the catchphrase Clinton used to try to moderate the appearance of his pro-abortion views.

Obama said today he thinks abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" in America and he said families, not the government, "should be the ones making the decision."

"Now, with respect to the abortion issue, I actually think — I mean, there are laws both federal, state and constitutional that are in place. And I think that this is an area where I think Bill Clinton had the right formulation a couple of decades ago, which is abortion should be safe, legal, and rare," Obama said.

"I think it’s something all of us should recognize is a difficult, oftentimes tragic situation that families are wrestling with. I think the families and the women involved are the ones who should make the decisions, not the government," he said.

"But I do think actually that there are a whole host of laws on the books that after a certain period, the interests shift such that you can have some restrictions, for example, on late-term abortions, and appropriately so. So there is in fact a set of rules in place," he added. "Now, people still argue about it and still deeply disagree about it. And that’s part of our — that’s part of our democratic way."

But Obama’s record during his presidency has been the opposite of ensuring abortion is rare or safe.

One of his first acts as president was to issue an executive order forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations. His decision to overturn the Mexico City Policy sends part of $457 million to pro-abortion organizations.

In February, he nominated Kathleen Sebelius to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. She repeatedly vetoed laws in Kansas as the state’s governor to place limits on late-term abortions or to ensure the safety of women.

The first person Obama named as a judicial appointment, Judge David Hamilton, was criticized because he struck down a law the Supreme Court has upheld that allows states to pass laws to protect women by giving them full information about abortion’s risks and alternatives.

Obama’s budget proposals have called for eliminating federal funding for abstinence education, which helps young people prevent pregnancies and abortions.

And when it came time to implement the new ObamaCare health care program, his administration attempted to fund more abortions in three states before pro-life groups blew the whistle.

 

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