A flip-flop on late term abortions? Just flop again!
posted at 10:18 am on July 6, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Barack Obama offered another “inartful” statement that appeared to reverse his position on late-term abortions. In an interview with Relevant Magazine, Obama said that “mental distress” shouldn’t be a qualifier for a second- or third-trimester abortion — reversing his own vote on the partial-birth abortion ban. By yesterday, Obama had hit reverse again to get back in a campaign press conference.
Obama started this tempest with this inartful response:
Strang: Based on emails we received, another issue of deep importance to our readers is a candidate’s stance on abortion. We largely know your platform, but there seems to be some real confusion about your position on third-trimester and partial-birth abortions. Can you clarify your stance for us?
Obama: I absolutely can, so please don’t believe the emails. I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.
That reverses his own position on late-term abortions, where he has championed mental-health exceptions for late-term abortion bans. Sensing an obvious backlash, Obama then tried to clarify his position with the press. The Swamp has the retreat quote:
My only point is this — historically I have been a strong believer in a women’s right to choose with her doctor, her pastor and her family. And it is ..I have consistently been saying that you have to have a health exception on many significant restrictions or bans on abortions including late-term abortions.
In the past there has been some fear on the part of people who, not only people who are anti-abortion, but people who may be in the middle, that that means that if a woman just doesn’t feel good then that is an exception. That’s never been the case.
I don’t think that is how it has been interpreted. My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases. It is not just a matter of feeling blue. I don’t think that’s how pro-choice folks have interpreted it. I don’t think that’s how the courts have interpreted it and I think that’s important to emphasize and understand.
Historically, courts have adopted a very expansive view of mental-health threats, which is why abortion opponents fight against the vague definitions used in such bills for exceptions to bans. A competent Constitutional law scholar would know this and would not have offered that specific formulation to Relevant without understanding its meaning. Even more than gun rights, abortion has been the biggest Constitutional issue in the US since Obama was in grade school. How can he not be prepared to speak clearly on this issue?
Either Obama tried to get away with a tack back to the center and got caught, or he’s ignorant of all but the most superficial aspects of the issue. I suspect it’s the latter more than the former; if he wanted to tack back to the center, he would have chosen a more significant venue than Relevant for the shift. If it is the latter — if he’s demonstrated ignorance on yet another topic in his supposed field of expertise — then at some point the question of Obama’s competence anywhere except the dais has to be asked.
Cassus vestitus, indeed.
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I’d really like to see a John McCain add which points out all of these double takes on his positions. My innermost cynicism prevents me from thinking I will..
AbaddonsReign on July 6, 2008 at 10:23 AM
When he said “don’t believe the emails,” did that include the one Michelle Obama sent out asking for funds based on her husband’s support for partial birth abortion?
Quisp on July 6, 2008 at 10:28 AM
“This too shall change.”
TooTall on July 6, 2008 at 10:32 AM
The only pastor that would consider the option is one in the Church of Satan.
Darth Executor on July 6, 2008 at 10:32 AM
On almost every explanation of his flip-flops, BO starts with, “I’ve always said…”
jgapinoy on July 6, 2008 at 10:41 AM
At least McCain admits when he changes his position.
jgapinoy on July 6, 2008 at 10:42 AM
He tested the wind and found the Hillary supporters backing away even more. Thus the flop. Hey, didn’t he just lecture us the other day on the difference between strategy and tactics? One would think he has to be getting exhausted, but it does seem to come easily for him, so perhaps not. I just don’t understand why his black supporters don’t recognize how many black babies have been thrown away compared to other ethnic groups.
a capella on July 6, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Life is so much easier when you have no integrity.
Just follow the wind (or the polls).
JayHaw Phrenzie on July 6, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Obama’s the ball in a pin ball machine. Tilt.
JiangxiDad on July 6, 2008 at 10:49 AM
I love that you keep using the great seal of Barack.
JeffreyLloyd on July 6, 2008 at 10:49 AM
…& that pose is too funny!
jgapinoy on July 6, 2008 at 10:50 AM
He’s a sociopath; Dissocial personality disorder.
Beto Ochoa on July 6, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Ed, you may become known as the man who took down Obama. Who knows, you may get a thank-you card from Hillary one day :)
JiangxiDad on July 6, 2008 at 10:51 AM
[Darth Executor on July 6, 2008 at 10:32 AM]
Yeah, but color me not surprised he can “inartfully” describe it as a collective right, not an individual one.
Dusty on July 6, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Strang: Based on emails we received, another issue of deep importance to our readers is a candidate’s stance on abortion.
Obama: I absolutely can [clarify my stance], so please don’t believe the emails.
Oh, so the emailers for whom this is an important issue are liars and not to be believed?
Buy Danish on July 6, 2008 at 10:55 AM
What pastor would counsel a woman to murder her baby? J. Wright would I’m sure but who else? The Bible is abundantly clear that in God’s eyes we have value BEFORE we’re born. He creates life and it’s not up to pastors to “counsel” women to take that life before he or she sees the light of day.
When the wheels come off BHO’s bus I’m afraid for all the people he’s thrown under it.
Mojave Mark on July 6, 2008 at 10:56 AM
I read somewhere that an essential plank of NARAL’s policy is that mental health concerns must be considered a legitimate reason for a woman to abort during the third trimester. They include this because there is no one to challenge a doctor’s assertion that the patient is “distraught”, ergo no restrictions whatsoever on partial or even live birth abortions.
JiangxiDad on July 6, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Rush is starting to pour it on heavy on this guy.
johnnyU on July 6, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Yes, it’s been the catch all justification for a long time. Shameful! And, I say that as one who believes there should be legitimate exceptions to a total ban.
a capella on July 6, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v Wade, allows abortion it the third trimester for mental health reasons. Funny the Constitutional Law Professor didn’t know that…
Wethal on July 6, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Artful is the word, is the word…
Has anyone noticed how “inartful” his corrections/flippy-floppy’s are? Certainly compared to his desperated attempt to fool the fools of the Dem party.
Seriously? Does Obama consider the second try to confuse his peeps “Artful”??
Hell, with all the stuttering commas I had to get a neckbrace to actually read it.
Shivas Irons on July 6, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Radical feminists ordained in the more liberal denominations.
Wethal on July 6, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Until next week. I’m not changing my firm position on this
one either.
And that’s final again, Trust me.
Texyank on July 6, 2008 at 11:22 AM
The mental health issue should be included in the decision making process. Namely the mental health of the doctor who is crushing the skull of the baby and the mental health of the baby just prior to the crushing process.
Limerick on July 6, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Unless the “women” is between the ages of 12 and 18, then of course it is NONE of the families (her parents) business.
Bicyea on July 6, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Bi-racial and bi-polar. Sweet.
SouthernGent on July 6, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Some denominations are more liberal on the issue, and it’s a much harder call to make when the mother is diagnosed with cancer, was raped (including being way underage. How does an 11-year-old get pregnant except through rape?), or the baby has an unsurvivable birth defect (Tay-Sachs, anencephaly and the like. I’m not talking cleft palates and Down’s Syndrome).
Sekhmet on July 6, 2008 at 11:50 AM
There are points much earlier in the pregnancy where mental health issues can come in. There is no need to wait this late into a pregnancy before deciding your mental health is adversely affected by the pregnancy.
Sekhmet on July 6, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Clearly, partial-birth abortion is murder. There’s no other way to describe it!
byteshredder on July 6, 2008 at 11:58 AM
I
Atleast McCain should use this NOBAMA GIRL as his Campaign Ad.
Anita on July 6, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Bingo! That’s what paints it as a convenience item.
a capella on July 6, 2008 at 12:03 PM
I was surprised the first time I heard he taught Constitutional law, as I had yet to hear anything inidicating such. He only continues to reinforce that.
Would be fun to see him and Fred Thompson get in a debate on these issues :/
aikidoka on July 6, 2008 at 12:16 PM
The only way I see an abortion later in the pregnancy is if it took that long to test and be absolutely sure the baby has an unsurvivable birth defect.
But with technological advances, we can know this earlier and earlier if it is the case. Heck, we are getting to the point where a blood test on the mother (to harvest fetal cells in her bloodtream) can help diagnose a potential problem when the pregnancy is not far along at all.
We already have something to test the mother’s blood chemistry for markers that might indicate problems. Now, it’s not very reliable and I avoided the test in both my pregnancies—but once it becomes more reliable, the docs can focus on diagnosing the problem before the pregnancy gets too far along.
Sekhmet on July 6, 2008 at 12:20 PM
There wouldn’t be enough left of Obama in a debate with Fred Thompson to qualify as dryer lint.
irongrampa on July 6, 2008 at 12:27 PM
The other email rumor that’s been floating around is that somehow I’m unwilling to see doctors offer life-saving care to children who were born as a result of an induced abortion. That’s just false. There was a bill that came up in Illinois that was called the “Born Alive” bill that purported to require life-saving treatment to such infants. And I did vote against that bill. The reason was that there was already a law in place in Illinois that said that you always have to supply life-saving treatment to any infant under any circumstances, and this bill actually was designed to overturn Roe v. Wade, so I didn’t think it was going to pass constitutional muster.
Ever since that time, emails have been sent out suggesting that, somehow, I would be in favor of letting an infant die in a hospital because of this particular vote. That’s not a fair characterization, and that’s not an honest characterization. It defies common sense to think that a hospital wouldn’t provide life-saving treatment to an infant that was alive and had a chance of survival.
LIAR!!! The bill had specific language protecting Roe!
Damian G. on July 6, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Any truth to the rumor that The Obamassiah’s campaign song is going to be David Bowie’s Changes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8
rbj on July 6, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Ha . . Are we sure Omama isn’t really saying
Hope and Chains ? ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S0WDCAYTh8
Texyank on July 6, 2008 at 1:29 PM
The only thing Obama “repeatedly” says is - “I have repeatedly said”.
Whenever Obama says that, you know he is lying.
Agrippa2k on July 6, 2008 at 6:20 PM
I’m sorry, but you’re not worth much as a Christian pastor if there’s any doubt you’d be 100% against the very idea of aborting a baby. Then again, liberal pastors pretty much toss out half of the Bible as it is, so I’d hardly label them Christian at all.
TheBlueSite on July 6, 2008 at 7:51 PM
I know most of us here are probably against abortion entirely, but Obama endorsed partial-birth abortion. Partial-birth abortion! Half-born babies murdered for convenience. There is no way around the fact that those babies are alive; no way to say they are just a lump of cells. I don’t care if the mother is a raving lunatic, that baby deserves a shot.
The guy is scum.
p40tiger on July 6, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Declaring a vote for Obama to be a sign of mental illness would solve everything
profitsbeard on July 6, 2008 at 10:39 PM
Obama claims to be a Christian. I wonder what kind of Jesus he follows? I just dont believe the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world would be ok with infanticide. Maybe Obama made Jesus over in his own image - liberals do that.
And are there any stats on how many PBA’s were performed where the mother’s life was in danger from a live birth - that if that birth occurred she’d die? Of course, an abortionist can put anything in the record - he/she gets paid regardless.
Obama might be wooing evangelicals but he wont get this one.
abcurtis on July 7, 2008 at 9:30 AM
You took the words right out of my mouth.
abcurtis on July 7, 2008 at 9:31 AM
So when has a socialist democrat been opposed to more laws? Only when they might hamper abortion. Obama’s a constitutional professor? I’d like for him to show me the unalienable right to abortion in the constitution. The fact is abortion is a court-granted right. Whatever the court grants the court can take away.
abcurtis on July 7, 2008 at 9:34 AM
I am getting really tired of this particular Obama formulation…
My only point is this — historically I have been a strong believer in a women’s right to choose with her doctor, her pastor and her family…
Why does he feel the need to insert “her pastor” into this decision making circle? (I guess we should be thankful that he does not say “her Priest”!) But how does the pastor have any defined role in whether or not a woman chooses abortion?
The way Obama includes “her pastor” each and every time he addresses this matter, it sounds almost as if he is to have a go/no go sign-off on the whole thing. Without a signed note from “her pastor”, the doctor must just turn the woman away because she does not have the required approvals…
gridlock2 on July 7, 2008 at 9:52 AM
PETITION SIGNING REQUEST
For the interested, please sign a petition demanding Barack Hussein Obama furnish America with a legal, certified, readable birth certificate. Because, the images of Barack Hussein Obama’s birth certificate that have been posted on the Daily KOS, and on Obama’s web sites, have been analysed as being FORGED.
Birth Certificate Now
byteshredder on July 7, 2008 at 2:16 PM