Obama on Abortion - Its a moral and ethical issue

[sampsonblk]

1. Its a moral issue as well as an ethical one
2. Those who say the only its only about the right of the woman to choose are being disingenuous.
3. In the best case, we will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, which will decrease the overall number of abortions.

Good stuff.

[Clio the Leo]

1. I love that man.

.... the religious right wont hear his answer, but at least he said it.

[sampsonblk]

7. Agreed - nt

[xchrom]

2. as long as it's linked to a privacy right -- then

obama is being diingenuous when he says that.

how about a woman owning her body as much as a man owns his?

[uppityperson]

6. I see it as a choice between a legal safer abortion or a unhygenic back alley one

that's how I see it

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. He said that a woman is in the best position to make the decision, not the government

which is why he is pro choice.

[xchrom]

10. that's not how i read this

'Those who say the only its only about the right of the woman to choose are being disingenuous.'

it seems to me he is speaking to people on the 'choice' side of the 'stand off'.

his statements during the elction didn't persuade me he is clear on this -- and i'm not persuaded now.

[stillcool]

13. but he did say..

it was a woman's decision and the government had no business involving itself.

[sampsonblk]

14. FULL TEXT: Obama's answer to the abortion question

Ed Henry?

Question: 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 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 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 presidencies 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.

[Iris]

17. personally, I've lived through a few unwanted "presidencies" already and was never

compelled to get an abortion b/c of them.


"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 presidencies that result in women feeling compelled to get an abortion,"

[CTyankee]

15. What he was really saying in the answer he gave is that women are moral agents.

When he talked about women having to "wrestle with" this decision, he was saying that women are not brainless, illogical children. They can and do make up their minds just as men do. This is a correct position IMO and I have been in this fight for choice since the 70s and have worked for Planned Parenthood. For too long, the anti choicers have argued that women don't know their own mind so they need to be "counseled" to knock some sense into them.

[Demoiselle]

11. He also said ...

that women take the matter very very seriously which is another reason why they should be allowed to make the decision themselves. At least, that's how I heard him, and I was very pleased indeed. He was showing real respect for women, I thought.

[Ocracoker16]

19. I agree that he has respect for women

Pro-life politicians always act like all women who decide to have abortions make the decision in haste. I get very angry when these pro-life individuals claim that all of these women are using abortions as birth control. We are supposed to assume that women who have abortions are irresponsible about protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancies and then when they get pregnant they immediately elect to have an abortion to get rid of the fetus so that they can continue doing whatever they feel like without facing the consequences.

Obama clearly understands that deciding to have an abortion is very difficult for a woman. He mentions how it is not a "casual" decision for women. He knows that women put a lot of effort into making the right decision for them. He recognizes that women are capable of making the choice themselves and don't need the government to dictate what they should do.

I am happy that Sebelius has been confirmed. I don't say that just based on her being pro-choice, but rather because she has a record of protecting the right to choose as governor of Kansas. She does walk the talk.

[stillcool]

12. He said it was up to a woman..

and the government had no business in the decision.

[Cha]

3. It was an excellent summary of

his thoughts on this!

[wyldwolf]

4. very good... yet vaguely familiar...

[Arkansas Granny]

18. Very familiar, in fact.

[Uzybone]

5. 4. Its not the governments decision to make for anyone

[skooooo]

9. That's the bottom line.

The rest is just blah blah blah to me.

[Mushroom]

16. Freedom

"2. Those who say the only its only about the right of the woman to choose are being disingenuous."

Yup, without the freedom to exercise choices, what good is the right to choose.;)