Barack Obama’s Flowery Words Can’t Cover Up Extreme Pro-Abortion Position
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by Laura Echevarria
June 17, 2008
LifeNews.com Note: Laura Echevarria is a LifeNews.com opinion columnist. She is the former Director of Media Relations and a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee and has been a radio announcer, freelance writer active in local politics.
Well, it’s official. Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee; Al Gore has presented his imprimatur and the media, well, they are fawning all over Obama.
But if Barack Obama is elected in November, those who have performed and promoted abortions will have found a new champion.
And make no mistake, he will champion their cause.
Barack Obama’s language on abortion is loose and the delivery is designed to allow the listener to walk away feeling good about how the message was conveyed. This is intentional.
In a recent meeting between Barack Obama and religious leaders, the attendees discussed a number of issues and abortion took up a good portion of the meeting. According to one account, Obama claimed that he wants to "discourage" the practice of abortion.
How would he do this?
The author of the opinion piece in which this account takes place is former Justice Department official and lawyer Douglas Kmiec, a Catholic supporting Obama. He wrote:
. . .it is abundantly clear from our conversation that Obama shares a common aspiration to reduce the incidence of abortion.
How?
Obama is committed to encouraging "responsible sexual behavior," discouraging unwanted pregnancies, promoting adoption as a more viable, affordable and appealing option than it presently is, and putting off limits, in a manner consistent with the law as the justices see it, late-term abortion. [note: I would assume here that this is in reference to Gonzales v. Carhart which banned partial-birth abortions not "late-term" abortions]. Obama will not exclude abortion from medical coverage to fulfill a health exception "rigorously defined."
This replays where we disagree, but the meeting, itself, keeps revealing his appreciation for both the significance of faith and faith differences and an open mind sensitive to the need to protect religious freedom.
Well, that certainly clears that up.
Trade opposition to abortion on demand for feel-good words about religion and tolerance and you too can vote for Barack Obama.
Obama’s record on abortion is dismal.
While in the Illinois state senate, Barack Obama opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. This legislation was designed to protect children born alive during an abortion by according them the same protections given to a child who is born prematurely. The state legislation was very similar to the federal bill that President Bush signed into law in 2002.
According to National Right to Life (NRLC), "Obama opposed the legislation for three straight legislative sessions and twice spoke against the bill on the Senate floor. He voted against the bill twice in committee and once on the Senate floor."
Barack Obama has a 0% voting record with NRLC and a 100% voting record with NARAL Pro-Choice America. He opposes the Hyde Amendment, Mexico City Policy and is a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act. Barack Obama also voted to block legislation that would require an abortionist to give notice to the parent of a minor if the minor lives in another state.
Barack Obama is not willing to give on this issue.
In July 2007, in a speech before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Obama said, "There will always be people, many of goodwill, who do not share my view on the issue of choice. On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield."
How any of his record can be construed to mean that Barack Obama is willing to work toward decreasing abortion on demand is beyond me. He has done everything in his power—on the state and federal level—to oppose any protective legislation for women or their unborn children.
I’m not willing to compromise my beliefs and that may be my problem. The mental gymnastics and moral compromises needed to believe in Barack Obama exceed my abilities.
