Obama's Abortion Comments
Has Obama backed away from abortion rights groups on partial birth abortion a little bit? Get my analysis on this, but first read more from the AP report below:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says "mental distress" should not qualify as a justification for late-term abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.
In an interview this week with "Relevant," a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain "a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother."
Obama then added: "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."
Last year, after the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions, Obama said he "strongly disagreed" with the ruling because it "dramatically departs form previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women."
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."
The 1973 landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade, established a right to an abortion, and a concurrent case, Doe v. Bolton, established that medical judgments about the need for an abortion could include physical, emotional and psychological health factors.
"Senator Obama has consistently maintained that laws restricting abortions must contain exceptions for the health and life of the mother," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Thursday. "Obviously, as he stated in the interview, he has consistently believed those exceptions should be clear and limited enough to ensure that they don't undermine the prohibition on late-term abortions."
Obama's position is similar to that taken by a bipartisan group of senators in 1998 who tried to counter efforts to ban certain late-term abortions with their own legislation. That proposal, which failed, would have banned all late-term abortions except for those that are necessary to protect the physical health of the mother.
In a statement, NARAL Pro-Choice said Obama's magazine interview is consistent with Roe v. Wade.
"Sen. Obama has consistently said he supports the tenets set forth by Roe, and has made strong statements against President Bush's Federal Abortion Ban, which does not have an exception to protect a woman's health," the organization's statement said.
A leading abortion opponent, however, said Obama's rhetoric does not match his voting record and his previously stated views on abortion rights.
David N. O'Steen, the executive director of National Right to Life, said Obama's remarks to the magazine "are either quite disingenuous or they reflect that Obama does not know what he is talking about."
"You cannot believe that abortion should not be allowed for mental health reasons and support Roe v Wade," O'Steen said.
The whole article is here on CBNNews.com.
Saying "mental distress" is not a qualifier for partial birth abortion may score Obama some points with some on the fence Evangelicals. But overall, the ardent pro-life voters out there know Obama is pro-choice and this new talk isn't going to convince them much.
I think what we're seeing here is a willingness by Obama to not be so hardened on the issue of abortion.
He has written about this in his books and spoken about it too. He's one of the few Democrats that actually talks about the moral component to abortion and the fact that his party doesn't have all the answers. He's actually gone out of his way NOT to demonize the pro-lifers on this.
Still, his voting record is solidly pro-choice.
For Obama to really make inroads on this issue and to show he's a "new kind of politician," he would need to talk more favorably about bills on parental notification and fetal pain which make their way through Congress every year. These seem to be sensible middle-of-the-road abortion-related bills.
If Obama took the lead on bills like these then that would be a MAJOR step in this area. The problem though is that Planned Parenthood and NARAL would go ballistic.
Politically he would be hurt. Is he willing to take the risk? Pro-lifers are skeptical to say the least.
