Unpacking Obama's Notre Dame/Abortion Answer Last Night
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
There was one big "faith and values" moment during last night's presidential press conference, provoked by Ed Henry's question on Obama's forthcoming Notre Dame appearance and the president's support for the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate most state-level abortion restrictions.
As I see it, the president sent six important messages in his response:
1. He avoided any mention of Notre Dame, trying to stay above the fray. Most Americans probably haven't heard about the controversy, so why boost the story's visibility by commenting on it?
2. He unequivocally acknowledged a moral/ethical dimension to the abortion issue: "I think abortion is a moral issue and an ethical issue."
Most Americans are somewhat ambivalent about abortion rights, opposing both a strict abortion ban and legalized abortion without restrictions, suggesting they see it as a morally tricky issue. But some high-profile Democrats have declined to recognize that moral dimension.
For instance, John Kerry's answer to an abortion question in the third presidential debate of the '04 race suggested that he personally opposed abortion as an article of faith and yet—remarkably, given that admission—avoided treating the issue as a moral one:
Question: Some Catholic archbishops said that it would be a sin to vote for a candidate like you because you support a woman's right to choose an abortion and unlimited stem-cell research. What is your reaction to that?
Kerry: I completely respect their views. I am a Catholic. And I grew up learning how to respect those views. But I disagree with them, as do many. I can't legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith. What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn't share that article of faith. I believe that choice is a woman's choice. It's between a woman, God and her doctor. That's why I support that. I will not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade.
3. Obama chided antiabortion activists who decline to acknowledge the moral dimension of the abortion issue, earning him points with all those Americans who see that dimension, regardless of where they stand on abortion rights:
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.
4. He reaffirmed and explained his pro-abortion-rights position, reassuring his party's base amid all the Democratic talk about "abortion reduction" and after having just lectured abortion-rights advocates:
The reason I'm pro-choice is because I don't think women take 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 that's been my consistent position.
5. He reiterated his support for reducing demand for abortion by reducing unwanted pregnancies and revealed that a White House task force was working with groups on both sides of the issue to codify that goal into policy:
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.
6. He dialed back his enthusiasm for the Freedom of Choice Act after saying on the campaign trail last year that signing it was the "first thing I'd do as president." Another appealing message to cultural conservatives and another slight to abortion-rights supporters:
Now, the freedom of choice act is not my 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 where I'm going to focus.
- Read more by Dan Gilgoff.
- Read more about abortion.
Tags: abortion | Barack Obama | University of Notre Dame
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Reader Comments
Thanks Charles
Thank you, Charles Stanley for a well reasoned, sensitive, informed, politically astute essay.
Why the Catholic Church and Protestant Fundamentalists are wrong
Obama is clearly not an "abortion on demand" president. He shares with all Christians a dislike for abortion as a means of birth control. The difference between him and fundamentalists of both Catholic and Protestant stripe is in how we reduce and hopefully eliminate the need for most abortions.
The Christian right's strategy has clearly failed. They thought if they made a Faustian deal with the Republican Party, they could give their support in exchange for the promise to appoint anti-abortion justices to the supreme court, overturn Roe v, Wade, and eleiminate abortion by criminalizing it. The trouble with this turned out to be that, in exchange for this, the Church had to support harsh economic policies that favored the rich and created poverty. Poverty is a factor in increase in abortions, which is why the number of abortions reduced most sharply during the Clinton Administration, not Reagan or either Bush (In fact, Bush vetoed the Family leave act, which required large companies to give female employees unpaid maternity leave, and end the practice of replacing, at lower pay, female employees who take time off to have a baby. The FLA would have done a lot to reduce the number of abortions, and George Bush vetoed it)
Obama's belief is that we must reduce the number of abortions, yet not return to the day when women's biology could be used against them The fundamentalists don't care about this. The subjugation of women is something the Catholic church practices openly (and barring women from places of authority in the hierarchy is a matter of doctrine), and the Focus-on the-Family type of protestant fundamentalists teach the submission of women to men as a priciple they think comes from the Bible.
This is where the real difference lies. The irony is that by supporting the political right's oppressive economic policies, the religious right is likely responsible for perhaps millions of abortions that may not have been otherwise performed.
If the Catholic and Protestant fundamentalist truly cared about the lives of unborn children, they would embrace Barack Obama, and join him in open dialogue about this very complex issue. But I am not sure the children is what they care about. These are men, frightened to death of women's power.
Response to FOCA comment
Its not just "some fraction of Catholics" who care about the Notre Dame issue, its many. Respecting life is a fundamental issue for us and it is offensive when Catholic universities choose to honor prominent pro-choice individuals.
You cannot say "its not about the babies" for all Republicans, there are politicians who legitimately care about defending human life, especially in its most vulnerable stage--before birth.
The Freedom of Choice Act is immoral, unethical, and should be considered illegal. Roe v. Wade was a flawed decision. Everyone is entitled to life, as it stated right in the Declaration of Independence.Our government should protect all life at all its stages, regardless of age, condition, or any other circumstances, and I pray that is what is done at local, state, and national levels.
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