"…My underlying position has always been consistent, which is I'm a believer in conscience clauses.  I was a supporter of a robust conscience clause in Illinois for Catholic hospitals and health care providers.  I discussed this with Cardinal George when he was here in the Oval Office, and I reiterated my support for an effective conscience clause in my speech at Notre Dame."

Later Obama said, "…I can assure all of your readers that when this review is complete there will be a robust conscience clause in place."

One has to question why Obama’s administration deems it necessary to create a new "robust" conscience clause instead of letting the robust one of the previous administration remain valid. The conscience clause put into effect at the end of President Bush’s second term allowed health-care workers to refuse to provide services such as abortion based on moral objections without fear of discrimination. President Obama made a couple comments during his meeting with the Catholic media that causes one to wonder just how robust the conscience clause his administration creates will be. Consider this statement from Obama:

We, as I said before, did reverse an 11th-hour change in the conscience clause, partly because it hadn't been properly reviewed and thought through and there were some concerns about how broad it might be and what its manifestations would be once implemented.

Obama also admitted that his administration’s conscience clause "…may not meet the criteria of every possible critic of our approach…"

Perhaps most interestingly, President Obama appeared to show surprise that pro-lifers are worried that his conscience clause will be weaker than the previous one. During the meeting Obama said, "So I think that there have been some who keep on anticipating the worst from us, and it's not based on anything I've said or done, but is rather just a perception somehow that we have some hard-line agenda that we're seeking to push." (Emphasis added)

Pro-lifers’ skepticism is not based on anything President Obama has said or done? Perhaps President Obama has forgotten that in July of 2007 he said that the first thing he’d do in office would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)- a policy that would negate all federal and state limitations on abortion including the current ban on partial-birth abortion. Perhaps President Obama thinks that his answer of it is "above my pay grade" in response to the question of when a baby gets human rights should not be a red flag to those committed to protecting all human life. Perhaps President Obama doesn’t think that his recent proposal to remove the Dornan Amendment so that taxpayers’ money would be used to fund abortions in Washington D.C. should cause pro-lifers to expect Obama to be weak on life issues. Maybe the president thinks it should be no big deal that he overturned the Mexico City Policy which resulted in forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion organizations in foreign countries. Considering all these things (and more) that Obama has said and done with regard to abortion and life issues, I think that it is reasonable that we remain vigilant and watchful of our new president when it comes to his actions concerning life issues.