Does Barack Obama still support Partial Birth Abortion?

Question

In February 2004, U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, sent a fund-raising letter with the "alarming news" that "right-wing politicians" had passed a law stopping doctors from stabbing half-born babies in the neck with scissors, suctioning out their brains and crushing their skulls.
Michelle called partial-birth abortion "a legitimate medical procedure," and wouldn't supporters please pay $150 to attend a luncheon for her husband, who would fight against "cynical ploy[s]" to stop it?
Legislation was presented on the federal level and in various states called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. It stated all live-born babies were guaranteed the same constitutional right to equal protection, whether or not they were wanted.

BAIPA sailed through the U.S. Senate by unanimous vote. Even Sens. Clinton, Kennedy and Kerry agreed a mother's right to "choose" stopped at her baby's delivery.
The bill also passed overwhelmingly in the House. NARAL went neutral on it. Abortion enthusiasts publicly agreed that fighting BAIPA would appear extreme. President Bush signed BAIPA into law in 2002.
But in Illinois, the state version of BAIPA repeatedly failed, thanks in large part to then-state Sen. Barack Obama. It only passed in 2005, after Obama left.
Obama articulately worried that legislation protecting live aborted babies might infringe on women's rights or abortionists' rights. Obama's clinical discourse, his lack of mercy, shocked me. I was naive back then. Obama voted against the measure, twice. It ultimately failed.

In 2003, as chairman of the next Senate committee to which BAIPA was sent, Obama stopped it from even getting a hearing, shelving it to die much like babies were still being shelved to die in Illinois hospitals and abortion clinics. (As chair of that same committee, Obama once abruptly ended a hearing early, right before Scott and Janet Willis, the parents of six children killed as a result of Illinois' drivers licenses for bribes scandal, were to testify in favor of Choose Life license plate legislation. I was there for that one, too. The Willises had traveled three hours. Reporters filled the room. Obama stalled. He later killed the bill when no one was around.)
This is the man that doesn't bother to show up for votes on National Security but slams Hillary Clinton for making a hard and conscienous decision that he couldn't or wouldn't take a stand on. However he will break his neck to rally and vote for partial birth abortion and denying the right of a living breathing child to life.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/articl…

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Following are 10 excuses Obama has given through the years for voting "present" and "no" on the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act, or BAIPA.

10. Babies who survive abortions are not protected by the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

Obama, the sole opponent ever to speak against BAIPA, stated on the Illinois Senate floor on March 30, 2001:

I just want to suggest ... that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny.

Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a ? child, a 9-month-old ? child that was delivered to term. ?

I mean, it ? it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute. For that purpose, I think it would probably be found unconstitutional.

9. A ban to stop aborted babies from being shelved to die would be burdensome to mothers.

(Column continues below)

Before voting "no" for a second time in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 5, 2002, Obama stated:

What we are doing here is to create one more burden on women, and I can't support that.

8. Aborting babies alive and letting them die is a doctor's prerogative.

An Obama spokesman told the Chicago Tribune in August 2004 that Obama voted against BAIPA because it included provisions that "would have taken away from doctors their professional judgment when a fetus is viable."

7. Anyway, doctors don't do that.

Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times in October 2004 he opposed BAIPA because "physicians are already required to use life-saving measures when fetuses are born alive during abortions."

6. Obama apparently read medical charts and saw no proof.

Also, during a speech at Benedictine University in October 2004, Obama said "there was no documentation that hospitals were actually doing what was alleged in testimony presented before him in committee," according to the Illinois Leader.

5. Aborting babies alive and letting them die is a religious issue.

During his U.S. Senate contest against Obama, Alan Keyes famously said:

Christ would not stand idly by while an infant child in that situation died. ... Christ would not vote for Barack Obama, because Barack Obama has voted to behave in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved.

Obama has always mischaracterized Keyes' condemnation as a blanket statement against Obama's pro-abortion position, which is untrue. Keyes was pointedly discussing infanticide.

Nevertheless, induced labor abortion, the procedure that sometimes results in babies being aborted alive, must be included as one Obama condones. Obama responded first to Keyes as he recounted in a July 10, 2006, USA Today op ed:

... [W]e live in a pluralistic society, and ? I can't impose my religious views on another.

4. Aborting babies alive and letting them die violates no universal principle.

In that USA Today piece, Obama said he reflected on that first answer, decided it was a "typically liberal response," and revised it:

But my opponent's accusations nagged at me. ... If I am opposed to abortion for religious reasons but seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

3. Introducing legislation to stop live aborted babies from being shelved to die was a political maneuver.

During the Benedictine University speech, Obama said, "The bill was unnecessary in Illinois and was introduced for political reasons," according to the Illinois Leader.

2. Sinking Born Alive was about outmaneuvering that political maneuver.

Obama has this quote on his website:

Pam Sutherland ? of ? Illinois Planned Parenthood ? told ABC News, "We worked with him specifically on his strategy. The Republicans were in control of the Illinois Senate at the time. They loved to hold votes on 'partial birth' and 'born alive.' They put these bills out all the time ... because they wanted to pigeonhole Democrats. ..."

And the No. 1 reason Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act was:

1. Introducing Born Alive was a ploy to overturn Roe v. Wade.

During a debate against Keyes in October 2004, Obama stated:

Now, the bill that was put forward was essentially a way of getting around Roe vs. Wade. ... At the federal level, there was a similar bill that passed because it had an amendment saying this does not encroach on Roe vs. Wade. I would have voted for that bill.

This was a lie on two points.

First, there was no such amendment.

Second, both definitions of "born alive" were always identical. The concluding paragraph changed in the federal version. But Obama, as chairman of the committee that vetted Illinois' version in 2003, refused to allow an amendment rendering both concluding paragraphs identical. He also refused to call the bill and killed it.

The federal paragraph (c) actually weakened the pro-abortion position by opening the possibility of giving legal status to preborn children, the opposite of Obama's contention:

Illinois' paragraph (c): A live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law.

Federal paragraph (c): Nothing in this section shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal status or legal right applicable to any member of the species homo sapiens at any point prior to being "born alive" as defined in this section.

At any rate, so what if stopping hospitals and abortion clinics from aborting babies alive and leaving them to die did theoretically "encroach on Roe v. Wade"?

Obama was admitting he supported infanticide if that were true.

Edit: I wonder if he had a hand in this....
A controversial Planned Parenthood mega-clinic in Aurora, Ill., that was built by a front company with the acronym GOD apparently is facing an uncertain future after city officials admitted it was built under the wrong zoning requirements, and met demands that were much less strict than the zoning actually in force for the land where the 22,000-square-foot building sits.....
The project erupted into controversy when officials for a company reportedly operating as Gemini Office Development (GOD), admitted they were a front for Planned Parenthood and confirmed they concealed with identity in order to prevent the public from knowing in advance about the huge abortion business they were opening in Aurora.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.vie…

Edit again: I found it!!

Obama backs Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora

by James Kimberly

Today,Sen. Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to weigh in on the battle over a Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.

Not surprisingly, the abortion rights supporter from Illinois said he would like to see the clinic open soon.

"I fully support Planned Parenthood's desire to open a new facility in Aurora," he said in a statement released this afternoon. "The proposed center will serve the growing population in a part of the state where access to a full range of reproductive health care services is lacking."

The statement went on to list some of the services the Planned Parenthood clinic would offer such as pap tests, contraceptive care, cancer screening and breast exams. It did not mention abortion procedures, which have drawn thousands of anti-abortion protesters to demonstrate outside the clinic.

Planned Parenthood built the $7.5 million, 22,000-square-foot clinic near New York Street and Oakhurst Drive on Aurora's east side this year and intended to open it Sept. 18. The City of Aurora has refused to grant Planned Parenthood an occupancy permit for the building until the city completes and independent investigation of how Planned Parenthood obtained building permits.
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politi…

Source(s):

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.vie…

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thanks for all the great info. Apparently it is something Mr. Obama feels passionate about. If this is his answer for environmental conservation I can't wait to see what his proposals for homelessness, joblessness and the recession will be. Take away the population factor...problem solved.

Answer 2

Yes, and heres the link:

www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm

How can you give this answer a thumbs down? Its on record that he voted no against banning it!

Answer 3

Ugh. Sick. Might be enough to get the conservatives out to vote against him too.

Answer 4

This is the first time I have heard of this and if this is true then what the hell are people thinking when voting for him?

Answer 5

Most socialist and commies do

Answer 6

Yes - Even when a fetus is born and becomes a living, breathing Human Being - Barack and Michelle Obama say it is okay to just let them die even as they struggle outside the womb to stay alive.

Barack Obama - and Company - are of an evil mindset.

Answer 7

I dont know and abortion issues are non-issues.

If you people cared as much about people and babies outside of the delivery room as you did while in the womb....this could be a better country.

And if my wife had a 5% chance at survival during birth and one of your types tried to open your mouth in defiance of her choice to live....I would probably go to prison for beating your sorry, selfish and self-righteous ****.

Conservative claim to be pro-life when in reality you are only "anti-abortion." You dont care about quality of life for others so long as you dont have to live with it.

What a sad sack of individuals most of you seem to be.

Answer 8

I know how you feel about this. My senator Mary Landrieu also voted for not banning this "procedure". In her case, she campaigned stating that she would vote for banning the "procedure" and this issue was her first major vote. She lied in her campaign and has lied since she took office.

Obama will do exactly the same. He will lie about his opinion on the issue and then, if elected, will act just opposite. Remember, abortion is the sacrament of the liberal democrats. It allows them to maintain total complete control of the people by telling them who will live and who will die. Socialized health care is another attempt to do exactly the same thing.

Mary Landrieu will be voted out of office this November and Obama/Clinton will not be elected as well.

Wake up people and be afraid. Be very afraid!

Answer 9

The State legislation wasn't the same as that which was passed in the Senate. If it were, then Obama would have voted yes....

The State version was paving the way to outlaw abortion ALL TOGETHER...not just partial birth abortion, and Obama was aware of the differences.

From 2001 to 2002, Obama voted either “present” or “no” on the legislation. In his floor speeches at the time, he cited in particular his concerns about the constitutionality of the definition of a “born alive infant” and the inclusion of potential civil and criminal penalties for doctors in these situations. He also warned that the bill might compromise the relationship between a woman and her doctor.

The measure failed in the Illinois statehouse in both 2001 and 2002.

In one speech in the spring of 2001, Obama said he agreed in principle with the need to protect infants, but argued that the measure went too far in its definitions of fetal viability.

“This is an area where potentially we might have compromised and … arrived at a bill that dealt with the narrow concerns about how … a pre-viable fetus or child was treated by a hospital,” Obama said at the time.

At the same time, similar legislation made its way through the federal process and was eventually signed into law by President Bush in August 2002 in Pittsburgh. Stanek, now a columnist for WorldNetDaily.com, attended the signing and was mentioned by Bush.

Separately, a Senate amendment to protect infants born alive during abortion was offered by then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in 2001. It passed the Senate 98-0 with all current Democratic presidential hopefuls who were in the Senate at the time voting in favor, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Chris Dodd (Conn.), Joseph Biden (Del.) and then-Sen. John Edwards (N.C.).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) spoke on the measure on the Senate floor, saying, “I, as being a pro-choice senator on this side, representing my colleagues here, have no problem whatsoever with this amendment.

“I feel good about that,” Boxer said. “I feel good that we can, in fact, vote for this together. It is very rare that we can.”

Obama’s campaign did not return calls for comment, but Pam Sutherland, president of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, said the Illinois legislation was misleading and a far cry from the Senate’s legislation. Obama was aware of this difference, she added.

Sutherland noted that every medical group in the state was opposed to the state legislation, which would have opened the door to “civil suits and criminal charges” for doctors and led directly to an overall ban on abortions.


To bad you would rather listen to the likes of Stanek....a Republican mouthpeice and ignorant Bush supporter....instead of researching for yourself to get the facts.

Answer 10

I do not know much about such matters he may yes it could be 100% true,,but you know what real differance will that make anyway. I know its terrable and makes people sick to think about such matters but I do believe the majority could care less about that ,,unless its in their face as to speak.I still think he is the best candidate and if what you say is true ,obama may change on it,as look at Romney he fliped so many times and still got almost to the seat of power. this is justr a small issue my dear terrable but no biggie.chow F.P

Answer 11

Well, abortion is a choice only the pregnant woman can make...her body, her choice.

As for partial-birth abortions, that is a decision that will be made by the Doctor and the woman at the time of birth. It is a rarely used procedure that can save a womans life under certain circumstances.

Your graphic little description is typical of those nutcases who would think it perfectly fine for the government to control a woman's body......and have the right to decide her reproduction process for her.

It matters not what you think anyway...or what law may or may not be enforced. Until Homeland Security or the FBI can station a person in every delivery room in evrey hospital througout the U.S., what happens in that delivery room is between doctor and patient.

Answer 12

I feel that abortion is a terrible practice but Obama's "official" position on it won't affect the way I vote because it's not like other politicians democrat or republican are that serious about banning abortion anyway.