White House Pushing Pro-Abortion Health Care Law After Polls Show No Support
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 18, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — New polls show Americans have not come around to support the pro-abortion health care law President Barack Obama signed. With the mid-term Congressional elections looming on the horizon, White House officials are putting together a concerted effort to boost support for it before voters head to the polls.
Yesterday, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey showed 56% favor repeal of the law, while 39% are opposed.
Support for repeal is unchanged from a week ago and from other polls since Congress passed and Obama signed into law the bill that forces taxpayers to fund abortions.
"That support is also proving to be just as consistent as opposition to the health care plan before it was passed into law," pollster Scott Rasmussen noted. "In polls conducted every week since the law was passed in March, support for repeal has stayed in a very narrow range from a low of 54% to a high of 58%."
The current results include 45% who strongly favor repeal and, among senior citizens, the generation most likely to use the health care system and the most likely to turn out in November, 63% favor repeal.
Overall, 39% of voters believe the law will be good for the country, and 50% say it will be bad.
Those numbers present significant concerns for Obama and his pro-abortion allies in the Congress, as they could face a pro-life and Republican rout this November — potentially losing either the House, the Senate, or both chambers in the process.
Faced with that prospect, The Hill indicates the Obama administration has brought on Stephanie Cutter, a Capitol Hill veteran, for her third stint helping Obama. She will be charged with the task of election messaging on the pro-abortion health care bill and trying to minimize the political damage from it.
The newspaper indicates Obama administration officials have aggressively courted the press to try to get good stories about the perceived benefits of the legislation.
But one Republican strategist told The Hill that, at the end of the day, the problems in the bill remain despite the new attempt to sell the law.
“They put out more fluff on the process, but the problems that were there before are still there today. And the polling on healthcare reform has been static since last August or so," the operative said.
Rep. Dale Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan who was considered pro-life until he supported the pro-abortion bill, told The Hill that Obama himself should get more involved in selling it to the American people.
“We suggested that the No. 1 spokesperson for this lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” he said. “And he can do a great job.”
But Obama himself faces ratings in many election battleground states where his unfavorable marks are higher than his favorables. His getting out on the stump to support pro-abortion candidates and a pro-abortion bill likely won’t endear either to a majority of Americans.
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