Abortion Is a No-Win Issue for Obama

Obama's voting record is so clear-cut that efforts to "soften" his position on partial birth abortions fall flat with pro-lifers and anger his pro-choice fans.

July 7, 2008 - by Jennifer Rubin
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It is no secret that Barack Obama is making a play for religious voters. Having figured out that so-called value voters are among the voters he must persuade to win in November, Obama is openly talking about his faith. Contrary to popular belief, his problems are not really about his 20-year association with a hate-spewing preacher or scurrilous rumors that he is a closet Muslim. The real problem: he is adamantly opposed to positions these voters hold dear.

We saw this with regard to gay marriage. He previously had avoided approving of gay marriage, and embraced fuzzy language praising civil unions and supporting nondiscrimination against gays. But then he decried a California initiative seeking to ban gay marriage. Worse yet for his crusade to win over religious voters, he declared support the traditional institution of marriage to be “divisive and discriminatory.” It is not surprising that a group of evangelical leaders shortly thereafter came out in support of John McCain.

But Obama’s real difficulty comes over abortion. His record as a state legislator was extreme — voting “present” three times on a partial birth abortion bill and three times against a bill requiring medical care to babies born alive during an abortion procedure. In the U.S. Senate he racked up a perfect 100% rating from NARAL for three years straight. (His website touts a long list of pro-choice groups and his history of absolute support for Roe v. Wade.) And when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Partial Birth Abortion ban he decried the ruling, saying “I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women.”

So it was not surprising that he tried to soften his position and reach out to religious voters in an interview with Relevant Magazine when he declared:

“I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.”

Well, this sounded like big news. AP noted:

The health care exception is crucial to abortion rights advocates and is considered a legal loophole by abortion opponents. By limiting the health exception to a “serious physical issue,” Obama set himself apart from other abortion rights proponents. The official position of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group that endorsed Obama in May, states: “A health exception must also account for the mental health problems that may occur in pregnancy. Severe fetal anomalies, for example, can exact a tremendous emotional toll on a pregnant woman and her family.”

As a savvy court watcher pointed out, “[T]here’s no mistaking that Obama says he no longer will support what’s long been a cornerstone of the abortion rights debate: The Court’s insistence that laws banning abortions after the fetus is viable (now about 22 weeks) contain an exception to allow doctors to perform them if necessary to protect a pregnant woman’s mental health.” In short, Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases have made clear that although states can “regulate” late term abortions, such abortions must always be permitted to protect the “mental health” of the woman.

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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.

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24 Comments

1. Lisa:

What blows me away is why anyone would believe one word this man says?

You know, he’s been selling snake oil for months and folks are just now figuring it out.

What a bunch of rubes.

Jul 7, 2008 - 8:42 am 2. My new WordPress MU Site » Blog Archive » Abortion Is a No-Win Issue for Obama:

[...] Nicole Belle wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptObama’s voting record is so clear-cut that efforts to “soften” his position on partial birth abortions just don’t sell with pro-lifers and only anger his pro-choice base. [...]

Jul 7, 2008 - 10:07 am 3. huxley:

Can’t you just let him eat his waffle?

Seriously, maybe the internet magnifies this sort of thing because a candidate’s quotes are so easily available, but I don’t remember any presidential candidate who worked so hard to be on all sides of all issues to all voters.

Jul 7, 2008 - 10:47 am 4. John B:

Where I come from, and what my Church teaches is; “A woman who has had an abortion is to be pitied, for she is the mother of a dead baby.”

I’m always saddened when I see liberals confusing the words “fetus” and “baby”.

I also read that since Roe v Wade became the law of the land in 1973, (35 years ago), there have been about 13 million babies aborted. Looking at the possible demographics, that’s 13 million probable democrats who won’t ever reach voting age. That’s sad for Obama.

I wonder if people ever think about things like that.

Jul 7, 2008 - 1:01 pm 5. tanstaafl:

Barry has to toe the abortion line because it’s just about the sine qua non of being a modern American leftist today.

You can fudge on Iraq, you can fudge on campaign finance, you can tell the crowd in San Francisco one thing and the crowd in Peoria another thing…and maybe finagle and parse enough get a pass.

Or was he simply pandering to value voters, hoping to finesse language sufficiently to convince this voting bloc that he was not an extremist on abortion?

In parsing “mental health of the mother” and mixing it all up with late term abortion (like he did last week), pandering is all you can call it.

(and I still think that Barry and Michelle need to stay home more so those little girls won’t be “punished with a baby”, one of the stupidest phrases I’ve ever heard uttered by a Presidential candidate, or any other human being, for that matter)

Jul 7, 2008 - 1:37 pm 6. tanstaafl:

…since Roe v Wade became the law of the land in 1973, (35 years ago), there have been about 13 million babies aborted.

In fact, the number of abortions performed in the US since 1973 is somewhere around 50 million.

In the Original Hippocratic Oath a would be practitioner of the art of medicine forswore giving any woman an “abortive remedy”.

Hippocrates’ original is now called the classical version and many modern medical schools use revised versions that don’t (of course) include that phrase.

Jul 7, 2008 - 1:50 pm 7. Paul M Hupf:

If one believes, as I do, that life begins at the moment of conception, then abortion constitutes an intentional termination of the life of a defenseless human being. There may be extenuating circumstances involving the grave physical danger to the mother which could justify an abortion. But absent that qualification, an abortion is the wilful and unauthorized termination of a human life, more heinous because the child is voiceless and helpless. I cannot and will not vote for any candidate seeking public office who tolerates killing a defenseless child in the womb of his mother.

Jul 7, 2008 - 4:01 pm 8. DisturbedEma:

Shades of “I was for it, until I was against it”. . .

I cannot believe that he is getting so much wiggle room on this and all the other issues! Sheesh!

Jul 7, 2008 - 6:27 pm 9. Bill Bradley:

I know you are trying to make a name for yourself as a last-ditch defender of the ancien regime, but … :)

Jul 7, 2008 - 7:06 pm 10. Tonto (USA):

The whole persona of this very shallow man is falling apart before our very eyes. He’s a real “dud”.

Jul 7, 2008 - 8:29 pm 11. Cheryle:

I think the poor man may have really not known abortion was on demand in this country and he got educated real quick by his pro-abort supporters & is backtracking or he is trying to be all to all–what a real idiot!
Frightening….

Jul 7, 2008 - 9:08 pm 12. Cheryle:

what a real dud??

Jul 7, 2008 - 9:10 pm 13. Irena:

As Mother Theresa said “No Country can survive that KILLS its own children.”

Jul 7, 2008 - 10:21 pm 14. Rich:

This idiot is scaring me to death! And I do believe he is going to be elected.
God have mercy on America!!!

Jul 8, 2008 - 1:20 am 15. Carrie Murphy:

I agree with Mother Theresa.

We are destroying ourselves. It is intentional. We DO know exactly what we are doing to ourselves.

We cannot plead ingnorance on Judgement Day!

God have Mercy on the world!

Jul 8, 2008 - 5:50 am 16. SM:

Obama Declares He Doesn’t Want His Children “Punished with a Baby”
http://www.google.com/search?q=Senator%20Barack%20Obama+site:www.lifesitenews.com&l=en

USA: the demographic winter is coming.

Aging workforce.
geocities(dot)com/demographic_crash

Also new website prowomanprolife(dot)org

Jul 8, 2008 - 12:34 pm 17. Nedarc:

Obama’s favorite word: ‘Change’, that’s just about what unborn human life is worth to this man.

Jul 8, 2008 - 4:22 pm 18. Dr. Mark:

Obama is the ultimate cameleon. Those that can justify obliterating a human life for the sake of convenience (”oh,my career or degree or lifestyle”)will support this Godless man in spite of the truth of their actions. Abortion has been legalized as a tool for men to avoid responsibility and for women to have sex with men whose children that they do not want.
But mostly, for all of those “alledged” Christians supporting Obama I hope you have a nice, liberal argument when you stand before the altar of God (which you attest to believe in) for supporting this butchery…I suppose a lot of “good” , WWII era Germans have already tried.

Jul 9, 2008 - 10:56 am 19. Grace Harman:

Thank God people are beginning to see through the media whitewash of this person. No true person of faith (Christian, Catholic, Jew or any religion that respects value of human life)should vote for him. If he won’t protect the babies, he won’t protect the elderly, or the handicapped – or people of faith or anyone the government attacks.

Jul 10, 2008 - 6:19 am 20. Aucklander:

The Obama story is like a bad sitcom. Without the jokes.

Unfortunately, this man looks likely to become President of the USA, a nation that has been a long time friend of my tiny country. (It’s entirely mutual.)

The thought of this chameleon at the helm of your great nation turns my laughter into tears.

The new slogan for this empty suit – to quote the title of an old British TV sitcom – should be ‘Never mind the quality, feel the width!’

Jul 10, 2008 - 4:18 pm 21. sestamibi:

Not only will someone who supports what Obama supports torture and kill those elderly who become ill, as well as torturing and killing the disabled, his supporters will cheer him on. Late term abortion and the “mental health” exception are about — and have always been about — getting rid of the disabled. Always easier to get rid of any group if you dehumanize them first, history has taught, and Obama’ strongest supporters have learned that lesson.

Jul 13, 2008 - 10:08 am 22. Joe:

I have hope that I can get enough of the evangelical vote to put me over the top. I don’t need a lot of it. My strategy is to soft pedal the abortion thing and perhaps claim a change of heart on the late term and accidently born alive issue. I don’t understand the reasons behind the evangelical love affair with fetuses. There is no way that a mere blob of tissue’s right to life trumps the right of the mother to terminate it but I’m willing to risk losing a few pro-choice votes to gain a bigger chunk of the evangelical vote. Besides, who else do the pro-choicers have to vote for?

My other tactical thrust is to press the social gospel program to the limit that I can and to keep emphasizing my “born again” experience. Those things should give comfort to evangelicals who differ with me or feel uncomfortabe with my positions on certain less weighty issues. It also gives my “yes we can” followers amunition for debate with dangerous “right wing” evangelicals. The right wingers will never vote for me but I don’t need them anyway. I only need to peel off a percentage of the rest to reach the goal.

I have the audacity of hope that I can pull this off.

I’m Oback Arama and I’m running for president

http://www.obackaramablog.com/

Jul 13, 2008 - 9:43 pm 23. Pajamas Media » It’s All Coming Down to a Few Key States…:

[...] or Ward Churchill. Don’t forget, McCain also hails from a bordering state and the politics, including social views, of folks in Colorado’s Western Slope run nearly as conservative as those in Utah and [...]

Oct 3, 2008 - 1:40 am 24. It’s All Coming Down to a Few Key States … | USA TERM LIMITS:

[...] or Ward Churchill. Don’t forget, McCain also hails from a bordering state and the politics, including social views, of folks in Colorado’s Western Slope run nearly as conservative as those in Utah and [...]

Oct 4, 2008 - 8:55 am

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