Obama wants everyone to think he's a reasonable guy--perhaps even a maverick--when it comes to abortion. So he came out and said late term abortion isn't justified when the woman is just "feeling blue." Abortion rights activists fired back, and Obama issued the inevitable clarification--so frequent these days--that he didn't mean what everyone reasonably assumed he did. In this next statement, Obama said he supports the mental health exception for diagnosed illnesses.
So what is his position then? Obama clearly wanted to give the impression that he isn't morally indifferent to abortion, but does Obama believe there are women out there having abortions just because they're "feeling blue"? Does he want to restrict these abortions? It's unclear, but there's good reason the left isn't for the most part that confused. "Obama has an 'excellent' voting record on abortion rights," says Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "[H]is statements lend some confusion where there shouldn't be any."
About that voting record, Smeal is right. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama opposed legislation to ensure infants who survived failed abortions with medical care. Rather, he voted against three different bills to provide such care in the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee and then voted present on the floor of the state Senate. What a born leader!
Obama says he's concerned by the prevalence of late-term abortion, he's troubled that late-term abortions may be happening for reasons not permitted under state law, yet he voted against legislation to ensure actually born babies would receive immediate medical care. Obama wants to confuse people about what he really believes, but don't be confused. His record says it all.
