Obama: Strong Women Made Him Pro-Choice

While Sen. Barack Obama may not be the female candidate, he cited a family of strong women as part of his reason for supporting reproductive rights at a Planned Parenthood event Tuesday.

Financially assisted by a grandmother, raised mostly by a single mother, and surrounded by an intelligent wife and two young daughters, Obama asked his audience, “Will our daughters grow up with the same opportunities as our sons?”

He thought not.

The struggle for equality was not over, he said, and an important arena will be the Supreme Court. Obama showed contempt for the recent decision allowing abortion restrictions.

“Justice [Anthony] Kennedy knows many things--my understanding is that he doesn’t know how to be a doctor,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. He also said he would try to find common ground between both sides in the divisive debate over abortion and contraception.

“I am absolutely convinced that culture wars are just so ’90s,” Obama said, garnering chuckles from the mostly female audience.

Obama received a positive response from those attending the public affairs conference. Sen. Hillary Clinton was slated to appear later in the day.

--Nikki Schwab