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.
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.
I see bloggers aren't the only ones bending over backwards to excuse BHO's race to the right on issues we care about. Now NARAL's doing it and for what?
Now I didn't see any mention of late term abortions (I refuse to use the anti's term for this procedure) on NARAL's site, but Planned Parenthood is showing more courage in standing up for our rights on this issue, and had this to say about the matter...
Q6. What is a "partial-birth abortion"? Is this law about "late-term" or "third- trimester" abortions?
A6. The Act defines the term "partial-birth abortion" so broadly that it would prohibit a wide range of abortions performed in the second trimester. Indeed, there is no such medical term as "partial-birth abortion." Nor is this law about third-trimester abortions. Forty states and the District of Columbia already ban third-trimester abortions except when the life or health of the woman is at stake. Instead, the broad language of the law would ban abortions as early as 12 to 15 weeks, and it fails to include a health exception to protect women.
Q7. When do most abortions occur?
A7. The overwhelming majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 58 percent of legal abortions occur within the first eight weeks of gestation, and 88 percent are performed within the first 12 weeks (based on the most recent data from 2000). Just over 10 percent are performed between 13 and 20 weeks. Less than one-half-of-one percent occur after 24 weeks. (emphasis added)
So he's ginning up a phony issue to kiss up to the evangelicals while simultaneously throwing millions of women (and the men who support our rights) under that ravenous bus of his. Ya know I'd be surprised - shocked even if I thought BHO had even the tiniest bit of moral values. But after watching his race to the right over the past two weeks (not to mention his behavior during the primary season) I've come to realize that in a guy like this - it's simply not possible. There are just too many examples to indicate that this is not out of his character.
How dare he? The guy's making it sound like women suddenly suffer from the vapors or find themselves in a tizzy at the thought of actually giving birth in the lead-up to delivery.
And I'm sorry but what makes this junior, first-term Senator qualified to determine just how distressed we have to be before we step over into mental illness and can obtain a legal abortion in ObamaLand? I mean seriously - Harvard's good as far as law schools go but I didn't realize they were also teaching their students psychiatry and doctoring as well.
For the record - women don't just up and decide they don't want to have the baby at the drop of a hat. It happens rarely but when it does, the vast majority of cases involve a medical problem - threat to life and limb of the woman carrying the fetus. As Planned Parenthood points out, late-term abortions account for a very small percentage of procedures. This latest stunt of BHO's is pandering - pure and the most base form of pandering.
Holy f#*k if this is the kind of change he's been talking about pal you can frackin' keep it!
For those of you who might have missed it, what follows is BHO's cowardly record of taking a pass on defending our rights, when he had the chance to take a stand as a champion of choice for the women of Illinois. He voted present when he was in the IL Senate.
As a state senator, Sen. Obama voted 'present' on seven abortion bills, including a ban on 'partial birth abortion,' two parental notification laws and three 'born alive' bills. ( HB382, Passed 49-3-4, 5/13/1997; SB230, Passed, 44-7-5, 3/18/1997; HB1900, Passed 38-10-9, 5/16/2001; SB562, Passed 39-7-11, 4/6/2001; SB1093, Passed 34-6-12, 3/30/2001; SB1094, Passed 33-6-13, 3/30/2001; SB1095, Passed 34-5-13, 3/30/2001 )
As a friend of mine just said in an email on this latest offense, BHO just crossed the last line with this one.
I'm with her on this one and I'm guessing we've got more company in this than BHO could ever imagine. He's reaching out to evangelicals - seeking out their support. I think we're all bright enough to know he's got to give up something in exchange.
Are our reproductive rights the price to be paid for that support?
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