President Obama addressed the issue of abortion policy at his prime time press conference last night, in response to a question from Ed Henry of CNN. The question begins at 3:40 in the video above.
We of course saw more of the same from the President. Talk about "reducing unwanted pregancies" and coming together on the issue at places where 'everyone can agree.' The President certainly talks a good game, but his actions in the first 100 days are far, far and away from any common ground. Check out all the details of Obama's support for the abortion agenda here (SBA Compilation) and here (Jill Stanek's compilation).
One notable moment was when the President said tha the Freedom of Choice Act was NOT among his legislative priorities at the moment. No doubt that comment has upset NARAL, EMILY's List and Planned Parenthood. It is important to note, however, that our pro-life laws are far from safe with this declaration. FOCA is too much for Congress to pass in one fell swoop -- so the SBA List and others are perparing for efforts by abortion advocates to remove pro-life protections one by one, in a piecemeal manner.
The title of this post is an homage to CNN, who mistakenly translated Obama's remarks, saying he wanted to "reduce unwanted presidencies." I can think of a lot of pro-life Americans who would love to reduce this unwanted presidency! Alas, it was just a typo. . .
Full Transcript from CNN:
CNN's Ed Henry: Thank
you, Mr. President. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be giving the
commencement at Notre Dame. And, as you know, this has caused a lot of
controversy among Catholics who are opposed to your position on abortion.
As a candidate, you vowed that one of the very things you wanted to do was sign
the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as you know, would eliminate federal, state
and local restrictions on abortion. And at one point in the campaign when asked
about abortion and life, you said that it was above — quote, above my pay
grade.
Now that you've been president for 100 days, obviously, your pay grade is a
little higher than when you were a senator.
Do you still hope that Congress quickly sends you the Freedom of Choice Act so
you can sign it?
OBAMA: You know, the — my view on — on abortion, I think, has been very
consistent. I think abortion is a moral issue and an ethical issue.
I think that those who are pro-choice make a mistake when they — if they
suggest — and I don't want to create straw men here, but I think there are some
who suggest that this is simply an issue about women's freedom and that there's
no other considerations. I think, look, this is an issue that people have to
wrestle with and families and individual women have to wrestle with.
The reason I'm pro-choice is because I don't think women take that — that
position casually. I think that they struggle with these decisions each and
every day. And I think they are in a better position to make these decisions
ultimately than members of Congress or a president of the United States, in
consultation with their families, with their doctors, with their clergy.
So — so that has been my consistent position. The other thing that I said
consistently during the campaign is I would like to reduce the number of
unwanted pregnancies that result in women feeling compelled to get an abortion,
or at least considering getting an abortion, particularly if we can reduce the
number of teen pregnancies, which has started to spike up again.
And so I've got a task force within the Domestic Policy Council in the West
Wing of the White House that is working with groups both in the pro-choice camp
and in the pro-life camp, to see if we can arrive at some consensus on that.
Now, the Freedom of Choice Act is not highest legislative priority. I believe
that women should have the right to choose. But I think that the most important
thing we can do to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue is to
focus on those areas that we can agree on. And that's — that's where I'm going
to focus.
