Barack Obama Claims He’s Not Pro-Abortion Despite Overwhelming Record

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 2, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Barack Obama Claims He’s Not Pro-Abortion Despite Overwhelming Record

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 2
, 2008

Rapid City, SD (LifeNews.com) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama campaigned in South Dakota over the weekend in advance of the state’s Democratic primary there on Tuesday. He told the Rapid City Journal newspaper he’s not pro-abortion even though Obama has supported abortion at every turn and voted to force taxpayers to fund it.

“I am not pro-abortion,” he claimed on Sunday.

“I think I’ve said repeatedly that I think it’s a moral issue and a difficult one. What I have said is that ultimately I think women are in a stronger position to make those decisions, in consultation with their pastors and their family and their doctors,” Obama explained.

“But I think we can all agree on the need to reduce unwanted pregnancies that may lead to abortion, and I think we can also agree to increase the use of adoptions where possible,” he added.

While Obama contends he’s not pro-abortion, Obama has repeatedly voted to force Americans to finance abortions.

As recently as April 2005, Obama voted against an amendment in the Senate to prevent taxpayer funding of groups that promote or perform abortions in other nations.

Obama also voted twice against measures that would help enforce dozens of state laws allowing parents to know when their minor daughter is considering an abortion. Backers of the measures point to numerous instances where teenagers were secretly taken by other people out of state for secret abortions without their parents knowing.

Obama has also come under fire for twice working to prevent a bill in the Illinois state legislature from going to the governor that would have allowed for appropriate medical care when newborn infants survive failed abortions. The bill came after Chicago nurse Jill Stanek discovered cases of infanticide following botched abortions.

Meanwhile, the most recent annual report shows Planned Parenthood, for which Obama has backed federal funding, is referring women for fewer adoptions while doing more abortions.

The report shows that Planned Parenthood did 289,750 abortions, an increase over the 264,943 abortions it did during the 2005-2006 fiscal year. That’s a whopping nine percent increase even though the number of abortions nationally are on the decline.

The number of abortions dwarfs the number of clients receiving prenatal care — which totaled just 11,058 in the new annual report. That number is almost a 20 percent decline from the 2005-2006 total of 13,261.

The number of Planned Parenthood adoption referrals is also miniscule and continues to drop.

The previous annual report showed a scant 2,413 referrals and the abortion business made three less in the last fiscal year.

Pro-life advocates point to these facts when they say Obama would become the "abortion president."

"For all his talk on change and social justice, Senator Obama clings to and embraces archaic and radical pro-abortion policies that most Americans find appalling," says Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition.