Obama Told on Abortion: Change Your Mind Because Unborn Children Feel Pain

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 29, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Obama Told on Abortion: Change Your Mind Because Unborn Children Feel Pain

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 29
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Yesterday, pro-abortion President Barack Obama relied on the language Bill Clinton used to try to moderate his radical image on abortion. But a pro-life senator and organization are pushing back on comment he made saying he wants abortions to be "safe, legal, and rare."

Obama said yesterday he thinks abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" in America and he said families, not the government, "should be the ones making the decision."

Responding to those remarks, pro-life Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska said Obama is relying on an antiquated look at the abortion issue and added the president should update his views based on medical research showing unborn children feel pain during an abortion.

"So, Mr. President, it is time for us to acknowledge in law and in practice, realities revealed by these advancements in medical science," Johanns said on the Senate floor today. "We must be willing to change our mind-set based upon this evidence, and I would suggest we have an obligation to do so."

"Respected doctors are on record saying that abortions in the second and third trimester likely cause unborn babies, quote, ‘intense pain.’ How can we claim to be compassionate and yet look the other way in denial of this pain?" Johanns asked.

The lawmaker said the president shouldn’t look the other way and added he believed women ought to be told about this research before they made an abortion decision.

"We can see these precious faces. We can hear the heartbeat. That is why the legislation I’m introducing today is so critically important," he said.

Johanns officially re-introduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which requires those who perform abortions 20 weeks into a pregnancy or later to inform the mother that her unborn child feels pain.

"Women should not be kept in the dark. They have the right to know what their unborn child will feel during an abortion. And those who provide abortions should not dismiss the reality of the anguish," he said.

In 2006, the House fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to move the bill forward that Johanns referred to during his remarks.

During the town hall meeting in which Obama made his comments, he stated there are both state and federal laws regulating abortion.

"Now, with respect to the abortion issue, I actually think — I mean, there are laws both federal, state and constitutional that are in place. And I think that this is an area where I think Bill Clinton had the right formulation a couple of decades ago, which is abortion should be safe, legal, and rare," Obama said.

Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council also responded to Obama and he said the president was being duplicitous with the audience because he has never supported any legislation or laws to limit abortions, calling it a "misleading statement."

"The president had the gall to say this despite the fact he has opposed any and all regulations directed at abortion, even opposing legislation as a state legislator that would have protected babies who were born alive after a failed abortion," he said.

 

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