Barack Obama Flip-Flopping on Abortion From Promoting to Hiding His Record
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 7, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A leading pro-life group says Barack Obama is flip-flopping on abortion — not by changing his position but by changing his approach to talking about it. National Right to Life says Obama and his campaign touted his pro-abortion record in the primaries and now is running from it as the election draws near.
Douglas Johnson, longtime legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, tells LifeNews.com that the Obama campaign and its allies have adopted a strategy to mislead pro-life voters about his extensive pro-abortion record.
"The scam depends on the Obama campaign, with cooperation from the mainstream news media, deflecting attention away from Obama’s actual record, and from his extensive commitments to pro-abortion interest groups," Johnson said.
"Barack Obama is firmly committed to an agenda of sweeping pro-abortion policy changes that, if implemented, will surely greatly increase the number of abortions performed," he explains.
Johnson noted that a few short months ago, during the primary election, Obama and his advocates were boasting about his record of leadership in opposition to legislation to ban partial-birth abortions, to protect infants born alive during abortions, and to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions, among other pro-life bills.
"Those boasts were well-founded, and the current effort to re-package Obama as a moderate is a brazen scam," Johnson said.
The Obama "messaging" campaign includes the "Faith, Family & Values Tour" featuring spokespeople going to battleground states trying to lower criticism of Obama’s pro-abortion record.
In addition, various independent groups are disseminating advertising and literature that advances the same strategy, including the Matthew 25 Network and Catholics United.
Johnson pointed out some of the positions Obama holds that put him out of step with most Americans on abortion:
* Obama supports the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" which Johnson calls "the most sweeping piece of pro-abortion legislation ever proposed in Congress." The FOCA is a bill that would make partial-birth abortion legal again, strike down restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion, and nullify virtually every state and federal law limiting abortions.
* Obama advocates the nullification of state laws requiring parental notification or consent for a minor daughter’s abortion, which would be one of the effects of the FOCA. He has twice voted against parental notification.
* Obama advocates repeal of the Hyde Amendment, the law that since 1976 has blocked almost all federal funding of abortion, even though both pro-life and pro-abortion analysts agree that this law has prevented many abortions. By even the most conservative estimate, there are more than one million Americans alive today because of the Hyde Amendment.
* Obama opposes funding for pregnancy centers that provide tangible help for women in unplanned pregnancy situations.
* Obama led the opposition to legislation to protect babies who are born alive during abortions, and persisted in his opposition even after Congress had enacted a virtually identical federal bill without a single dissenting vote.
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