Hey everyone if there was ever a time to repost something this is it.
Few people realize how extreme Obama is in his abortion views. But he
is Extreme!
Obama's Abortion Extremism
By Michael Gerson
Wednesday, April 2, 2008; Page A19 Washington Post
Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.'s endorsement of Barack Obama last week -- "I
believe in this guy like I've never believed in a candidate in my
life" -- recalled
another dramatic moment in Democratic politics. In
the summer of 1992, as Bill Clinton solidified his control over the
Democratic Party, Robert P. Casey Sr., the senator's father, was
banned from speaking to the Democratic convention for the heresy of
being pro-life.
The elder Casey (now deceased) was then the governor of Pennsylvania
-- one of the most prominent elected Democrats in the country. He was
an economic progressive in the Roosevelt tradition. But his Irish
Catholic conscience led him to oppose abortion. So the Clintons chose
to humiliate him. It was a sign and a warning of much mean-spirited
pettiness to come.
The younger Casey, no doubt, is a sincere fan of Obama. He also must
have found it satisfying to help along the cycle of political justice.
But by Casey's father's standard of social justice for the unborn,
Obama is badly lacking.
Obama has not made abortion rights the shouted refrain of
his
campaign, as other Democrats have done. He seems to realize that
pro-choice enthusiasm is inconsistent with a reputation for
post-partisanship.
But Obama's record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on
partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." (the
practice of killing a child as it is being born) Obama strongly
criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban.
In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of
infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly
claimed that he would not want his daughters to be "punished with a
baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude
toward new life.
For decades, most Democrats and many Republicans have hoped the
political debate
on abortion would simply go away. But it is the issue
that does not die. Recent polls have shown that young people are more
likely than their elders to support abortion restrictions. Few
Americans oppose abortion under every circumstance, but a majority
oppose most of the abortions that actually take place -- generally
supporting the procedure only in the case of rape or incest, or to
save the life of the mother.
Perhaps this is a revolt against a culture of disposability. Perhaps
it reflects the continuing revolution of ultrasound technology -- what
might be called the "Juno" effect. In the delightful movie by that
name, the protagonist, a pregnant teen seeking an abortion, is
confronted by a classmate who informs her that the unborn child
already has fingernails -- which causes second thoughts. A worthless
part of its mother's body -- a clump of protoplasmic rubbish --
doesn't have fingernails.
Abortion
is an unavoidable moral issue. It also has broader political
significance. Democrats of a past generation -- the generation of
Hubert Humphrey and Martin Luther King Jr. -- spoke about building a
beloved community that cared especially for the elderly, the weak, the
disadvantaged and the young.
The advance of pro-choice policies imported a different ideology into
the Democratic Party -- the absolute triumph of individualism. The
rights and choices of adults have become paramount, even at the
expense of other, voiceless members of the community.
These trends reached their logical culmination during a congressional
debate on partial-birth abortion in 1999. When Democratic Sen. Barbara
Boxer was pressed to affirm that she opposed the medical killing of
children after birth, she refused to commit, saying that children
deserve legal protection only "when you bring your baby home." It was
unclear whether this
included the car trip.
Having endorsed partial-birth abortion, Obama has little room to
maneuver on the broader issue. But he does have some. He could (but he
is not) take the wise counsel of evangelical Democrats such as Amy
Sullivan and come out strongly for policies that would reduce the
number of abortions -- support for pregnant women, abstinence
education, the responsible promotion of birth control. An organization
called Democrats for Life has proposed the creation of a "95-10
Initiative" in which states and the federal government would work
toward the reduction of abortion rates by 95 percent within 10 years.
That would be a unifying national goal.
Such efforts will not please many pro-lifers, who are waiting on Obama
to support any type of legal protection for the unborn. But a real
effort to reduce the number of abortions would indicate that Obama's
Democratic Party is moving beyond its
humiliation of Gov. Casey. And
maybe Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., with his newfound leverage, could
insist upon it.
For more on Partial-Birth Abortion watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6vnOaq7nWU
Obama is a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act which he has
publicly pledged to sign as his first presidential action. The Freedom
of Choice Act would over turn all restrictions passed on abortion at
both the state and federal levels including the current ban on
partial-birth abortion! As well as the ban on using your tax dollars
to fund abortions!
Few people realize how extreme Obama is in his abortion views. But he
is Extreme!
Obama's Abortion Extremism
By Michael Gerson
Wednesday, April 2, 2008; Page A19 Washington Post
Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.'s endorsement of Barack Obama last week -- "I
believe in this guy like I've never believed in a candidate in my
life" -- recalled
another dramatic moment in Democratic politics. In
the summer of 1992, as Bill Clinton solidified his control over the
Democratic Party, Robert P. Casey Sr., the senator's father, was
banned from speaking to the Democratic convention for the heresy of
being pro-life.
The elder Casey (now deceased) was then the governor of Pennsylvania
-- one of the most prominent elected Democrats in the country. He was
an economic progressive in the Roosevelt tradition. But his Irish
Catholic conscience led him to oppose abortion. So the Clintons chose
to humiliate him. It was a sign and a warning of much mean-spirited
pettiness to come.
The younger Casey, no doubt, is a sincere fan of Obama. He also must
have found it satisfying to help along the cycle of political justice.
But by Casey's father's standard of social justice for the unborn,
Obama is badly lacking.
Obama has not made abortion rights the shouted refrain of
his
campaign, as other Democrats have done. He seems to realize that
pro-choice enthusiasm is inconsistent with a reputation for
post-partisanship.
But Obama's record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on
partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." (the
practice of killing a child as it is being born) Obama strongly
criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban.
In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of
infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly
claimed that he would not want his daughters to be "punished with a
baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude
toward new life.
For decades, most Democrats and many Republicans have hoped the
political debate
on abortion would simply go away. But it is the issue
that does not die. Recent polls have shown that young people are more
likely than their elders to support abortion restrictions. Few
Americans oppose abortion under every circumstance, but a majority
oppose most of the abortions that actually take place -- generally
supporting the procedure only in the case of rape or incest, or to
save the life of the mother.
Perhaps this is a revolt against a culture of disposability. Perhaps
it reflects the continuing revolution of ultrasound technology -- what
might be called the "Juno" effect. In the delightful movie by that
name, the protagonist, a pregnant teen seeking an abortion, is
confronted by a classmate who informs her that the unborn child
already has fingernails -- which causes second thoughts. A worthless
part of its mother's body -- a clump of protoplasmic rubbish --
doesn't have fingernails.
Abortion
is an unavoidable moral issue. It also has broader political
significance. Democrats of a past generation -- the generation of
Hubert Humphrey and Martin Luther King Jr. -- spoke about building a
beloved community that cared especially for the elderly, the weak, the
disadvantaged and the young.
The advance of pro-choice policies imported a different ideology into
the Democratic Party -- the absolute triumph of individualism. The
rights and choices of adults have become paramount, even at the
expense of other, voiceless members of the community.
These trends reached their logical culmination during a congressional
debate on partial-birth abortion in 1999. When Democratic Sen. Barbara
Boxer was pressed to affirm that she opposed the medical killing of
children after birth, she refused to commit, saying that children
deserve legal protection only "when you bring your baby home." It was
unclear whether this
included the car trip.
Having endorsed partial-birth abortion, Obama has little room to
maneuver on the broader issue. But he does have some. He could (but he
is not) take the wise counsel of evangelical Democrats such as Amy
Sullivan and come out strongly for policies that would reduce the
number of abortions -- support for pregnant women, abstinence
education, the responsible promotion of birth control. An organization
called Democrats for Life has proposed the creation of a "95-10
Initiative" in which states and the federal government would work
toward the reduction of abortion rates by 95 percent within 10 years.
That would be a unifying national goal.
Such efforts will not please many pro-lifers, who are waiting on Obama
to support any type of legal protection for the unborn. But a real
effort to reduce the number of abortions would indicate that Obama's
Democratic Party is moving beyond its
humiliation of Gov. Casey. And
maybe Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., with his newfound leverage, could
insist upon it.
For more on Partial-Birth Abortion watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6vnOaq7nWU
Obama is a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act which he has
publicly pledged to sign as his first presidential action. The Freedom
of Choice Act would over turn all restrictions passed on abortion at
both the state and federal levels including the current ban on
partial-birth abortion! As well as the ban on using your tax dollars
to fund abortions!
