After Notre Dame, Antiabortion Groups Sharpen Obama Criticism

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

After President Obama devoted much of his Notre Dame speech to the possibility of finding common ground in the abortion debate, abortion-rights foes are sharpening their "where's the beef?" critique of the president. When it comes to abortion reduction and working with the antiabortion movement, they say that the president is all talk and that his policies belie his statements.

"The most important thing to note is how he continues to claim abortion reduction as a goal when none of his policies support that," says Deal Hudson, who directed Catholic outreach for George W. Bush's presidential campaigns and who is influential in antiabortion circles. "That's just him being entirely disingenuous. The man parades as a moderate and is treated by supporters as a moderate, and he has a moderate tone and style. But his policies are pro-abortion to the extreme."

In an E-mail to reporters this morning, the Susan B. Anthony List, an antiabortion group, proclaimed in the subject line that "Obama's Remarks Don't Match His Policies."

"[I]n working and advocating to fully fund abortions, the president undermines his own purported goal of reducing the 'need' for abortion," said the group's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser. "True common ground exists. [Obama] is just not standing on it."

Hudson alleges that Obama administration policies like lifting the ban on federal funding for abortion providers abroad and increasing federal funds for family planning providers are leading to a surge in abortions, though hard numbers on the matter aren't yet available.

"The number of abortions that have already been encouraged by his policy decisions," Hudson says, "will never be equaled by any [abortion reduction] legislation currently being considered." As Obama continues to reach out to culturally conservative voters on abortion, look for antiabortion groups to ramp up this "it's all talk" campaign.

It's worth noting that the Roman Catholic Church has been less forthcoming with post-game criticism of Obama's Notre Dame appearance, even as dozens of American bishops publicly faulted the university for inviting the president. According to the Catholic News Service, the official Vatican newspaper was relatively bullish on Obama's appearance:

"The search for a common ground: This seems to be the path chosen by the president of the United States, Barack Obama, in facing the delicate question of abortion," the newspaper said.

It said Obama had set aside the "strident tone" of the 2008 political campaign on the abortion issue....

"Yesterday, too, as could have been predicted, there were protests. But from the podium set up in the basketball arena, the president invited Americans of every faith and ideological conviction to 'work in common effort' to reduce the number of abortions," it said.

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