by
Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 2,
2008
Washington,
DC (LifeNews.com) -- An African-American pro-life leader says
she's very upset to hear of the recent remarks pro-abortion Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama made recently. Obama shocked pro-life
advocates when he said he wouldn't want his young daughters "punished"
with a baby should they become pregnant as teenagers.
"I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby," Obama said.
Day Gardner, the president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, told LifeNews.com on Thursday she's blown away by Obama's comment.
Gardner worries Americans will be "punished" with a president who won't stand up for the lives of all people, either before or after birth.
"I will never call a baby a 'mistake,'" the former Miss America finalist said.
"We are all put here for a reason. But that aside, aren't we supposed to help our children learn from their 'mistakes?'" she asked.
"The consequences or circumstances a young woman may face with an unplanned pregnancy need not include the cruel and vicious killing of her child," Gardner explained.
The
black pro-life leader also said Obama is taking the wrong approach
to teen pregnancy. She said young women who become pregnant shouldn't
be scorned or told they are being punished with a baby, but should
receive love and support from their parents and the community.
"I know many young women who are wonderful mothers. We do not have to kill our children to have fruitful, successful lives," she said.
Gardner also suggested that Obama learn more about abortion and its consequences before suggesting his daughters or other young women have one.
"Obama obviously doesn't know very much about what an abortion really is -- what it does to children -- and what it does to the bodies of women," Gardner said.
"If
he did, I don't think he would have spoken so casually and callously
about snuffing out the lives of his future grandchildren or the traumatic
health problems and depression his older yet--still beautiful girls
would have to face," she added.


