Obama Tries to Have it Both Ways on Abortion
Randy Pate /
Today, the national media are lauding President Obama for seeking “common ground” on the abortion issue during his commencement speech yesterday at the University of Notre Dame. In an article entitled “Obama a Champion at Notre Dame,” Washington Post columnist Eboo Patel called the speech a “near perfect demonstration of public leadership in an environment of polarization.” If public leadership means saying what your audience wants to hear while pursuing your own hard-line agenda with gusto, then the author is right on target.
The trouble is, the President’s words of reconciliation and common ground in the national spotlight at Notre Dame don’t square with his actions on abortion policy. From his pre-election record of opposing restrictions on partial-birth abortion and endorsing the controversial Freedom of Choice Act, to his lightening-fast moves to reverse the Mexico City policy, overturn restrictions on taxpayer funding of embryo-destroying research, and remove conscience clause protections for health care providers in his first days in office, Obama’s record already establishes him as the most stridently pro-abortion president in U.S. history.