Barack Obama's Position on Abortion

As the general campaign heats up, Barack Obama has been actively courting the Evangelical vote that helped George Bush win the presidency in both 2000 and 2004. However, one topic that Obama is avoiding in the process of campaigning to religiously conservative voters is abortion. It seems that the issue of abortion has become a "back burner" issue for a lot of people; however it is probably still a high ranking issue for most people who would call themselves conservative. Because of this, it is important to understand exactly where Obama stands on this issue. Obama tries to put himself forward as a moderate, but an examination of his stance on issues such as abortion shows that he is anything but moderate. He is perhaps the most liberal senator on the Hill.

When examining Obama's record as it pertains to abortion, it doesn't take long to figure out exactly where he stands. According to ProChoiceAmerica.org, Obama has earned a 100% voting record in each of the last 3 years. That means that he has voted with the pro-choice position every single time he had the opportunity to do so. He has made it easier to get an abortion under more circumstances since he was elected to the Senate.

Obama also voted against banning partial birth abortion. Anyone who has actually seen this process, and still approves of it is warped at best and debased at worst. I do not understand how anyone (even if you think abortion is tolerable) can approve of this practice. It is a disturbing process used for the destruction of a child that is well developed. It is amazing that there is a difference of only about 3 inches at best between "abortion" and "murder." Ironically, Obama's vote came in the form of a "present" vote, which is used in the Illinois senate to avoid an issue that the senator does not want to come back on him in a negative way. So, he is not on record as voting "no", though that is his official position. He is on record as voting "present" as opposed to "yes", which shows his disapproval of the bill, and yet does not put him on record as specifically voting "no." Effectively, there is no difference!

Obama has been a staunch supporter of abortion rights. He has even gone so far as to vote "no" on prohibiting minors to cross state lines for abortions. He also voted "no" on notifying parents of minors who would cross state lines to get that abortion. Essentially, he voted against a bill that would require that a minor have parental permission to get an abortion by crossing into a state that has made it available to them. It is ironic that under these conditions, a minor cannot get an aspirin for a headache without parental consent, but they can have an abortion without that same parental consent. This shows the inconsistency of the position that Obama has taken.

This thought process has led to many other decisions and policies in the Obama camp. He has supported the distribution of contraceptives to both minors and low income women. He has also voted to spend much more money on both education and contraception. However, this seems to be a bad idea based on the fact that this approach has been taking place for years, and yet the problem of unwanted pregnancy continues to grow. If the principles promoted by Obama worked, then we should see a decline in unwanted pregnancy, but that is simply not the case.

Obama's position on abortion also extends into the area of stem cell research. He has continued to support expanded stem cell research. Many people don't know that this is typically a vote in favor of abortion, because the stem cells come from aborted fetuses. If there is to be a new line of these stem cells, they have to come from aborted babies.

All of these positions really boil down to the fact that Obama refuses to identify when life begins. By acting as if the question of "life" is unanswerable, it is easy to keep those "fetuses" (never babies) from having a face. If they are unidentifiable, then it is easy to allow for their destruction without conscious. At the Democrat Compassion Forum at Messiah College on April 13 of 2008, Obama was asked, "Do you believe that life begins at conception?" The answer, as given by Obama: "This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates." Obama makes life sound like a mystical thing so that he doesn't have to answer the question. But, based on his voting record, he has allowed for abortion even late in pregnancy. Surely, the life of 2^nd and 3^rd trimester babies is not in question!

Regardless of the conservative or moderate face that Obama has tried to put on, his voting record betrays him. He can act as if he is for "change", but in reality he is the same as most democrats. He is following the party line on the issue of abortion, and those who consider themselves conservative should examine Obama's stance and voting record. It is impossible for those who are conservative to accept Obama's positions on this vital subject. It should not be pushed to the back burner, but should be an important issue for the moral fiber of our nation!