Obama On Late Abortion: Mental Distress Doesn't Justify It

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says "mental distress" should not qualify as a justification for late-term abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.

In an interview this week with "Relevant," a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain "a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother."

Obama then added: "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."

Last year, after the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions, Obama said he "strongly disagreed" with the ruling because it "dramatically departs form previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women."

The health care exception is crucial to abortion rights advocates and is considered a legal loophole by abortion opponents. By limiting the health exception to a "serious physical issue," Obama set himself apart from other abortion rights proponents.

The official position of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group that endorsed Obama in May, states: "A health exception must also account for the mental health problems that may occur in pregnancy. Severe fetal anomalies, for example, can exact a tremendous emotional toll on a pregnant woman and her family."

The 1973 landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade, established a right to an abortion, and a concurrent case, Doe v. Bolton, established that medical judgments about the need for an abortion could include physical, emotional and psychological health factors.

"Senator Obama has consistently maintained that laws restricting abortions must contain exceptions for the health and life of the mother," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Thursday. "Obviously, as he stated in the interview, he has consistently believed those exceptions should be clear and limited enough to ensure that they don't undermine the prohibition on late-term abortions."

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Obama's position is similar to that taken by a bipartisan group of senators in 1998 who tried to counter efforts to ban certain late-term abortions with their own legislation. That proposal, which failed, would have banned all late-term abortions except for those that are necessary to protect the physical health of the mother.

In a statement, NARAL Pro-Choice said Obama's magazine interview is consistent with Roe v. Wade.

"Sen. Obama has consistently said he supports the tenets set forth by Roe, and has made strong statements against President Bush's Federal Abortion Ban, which does not have an exception to protect a woman's health," the organization's statement said.

A leading abortion opponent, however, said Obama's rhetoric does not match his voting record and his previously stated views on abortion rights.

David N. O'Steen, the executive director of National Right to Life, said Obama's remarks to the magazine "are either quite disingenuous or they reflect that Obama does not know what he is talking about."

"You cannot believe that abortion should not be allowed for mental health reasons and support Roe v Wade," O'Steen said.

In the interview with Relevant, conducted on Tuesday, Obama also defended his opposition to restrictions on induced abortions where the fetus sometimes survives for short periods. Obama voted against such a bill when he was in the Illinois Senate. He has said he supported a federal version of the law that contained more specific language because he feared the Illinois proposal would have applied to all abortions.

"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," Obama said Tuesday. "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."

Comments

[drblack]

If the US passes laws against abortion ,abortion will all go away, just like with some drugs.
Face it laws that limit a persons Constitutional right to themselves will NEVER solve anything..laws against individual Freedom will create more problems though.
No matter how many laws are passed against abortion there will still be just as many abortions. More if the Forced Birth anti Freedom ,anti sex people get their way and ban condoms and pre marital sex.
Better birth control is the only way to reduce Abortions.

[AERO]

I have a friend whose wife was told that the baby they were expecting would likely have down's syndrome. They chose to have it anyway. Their daughter was 100% normal and is now in her teens. It's not an easy issue. I'm not what you would call a pro-lifer, but I personally could not take part in ending a pregnancy at a stage when the baby is fully formed and could survive on the outside. There's a big difference between this and early stage, where there is not even a brain formed yet. All that being said, you can't legislate morality. The pro-lifers would be more effective if they concentrated their efforts on positively influencing the actions of people before they get into an unwanted situation instead of trying to tie their hands after the fact. But of course, that will never happen.

[NoahVail]

You are correct. There is a bona fide middle path.

[rzan1]

I agree with you. It would be best if Pro-Life advocates continue to try to influence people in a positive way. One of their billboards convinced me. However, I do feel we would have a real mess if Roe vs. Wade was reversed.

[rugbyliz]

What Democrats who blindly supported Obama have forgotten is that this is a super-ambitious man who left no trail. He voted more as "present" than for anything.
Until now he hadn't committed to anything, and that allowed Democratic voters to project anything and everything on to him . Suddenly these same people who lined up behind him based on his rhetoric of dreams, hope, change rainbow and stars are upset?
Come on, Candidate Obama -- how can you even begin to opine on a woman's right to choose? How can you opine on what "mental distress" is.
You wouldn't know it uless you were yanked out of your candidacy with 4 months to go and told you can't campaign or stump because you were forced to keep some American icon, such as Paul Newman, alive. Then you might know what some of the trouble women who agonize over ending pregnancies go though.
Another male opining on a woman's right to privacy.

[rzan1]

How idiotic. He is not taking away a woman's right to choose. He is simply putting forrth an opinion about late term abortions, an opinion that is held by most Americans and most women, for that matter. A very good friend of mine had an induced aborftion. The pregnancy had gone to nearly six months. The baby was born crying. She has never forgotten that cry.

[HumeSkeptic]

Come on, Candidate Obama -- how can you even begin to opine on a woman's right to choose?
----------

Senator 0bama has always been and remains solidly pro-choice.

You can stop your drama.

No one should decide what conditions justify late term abortion other than doctor(s) and the patient (woman) on a case by case basis, just as every other medical decision is made.

Your opposition to his opinion is just as invalid as his opinion.

[midwestvoter]

Give me a break- Hillary wasn't "yanked" out of anything. She ended her campaign months after it was mathmatically impossible for her to win. (That and she was almost 30 million in debt- even if she wanted to continue with no hope of catching up in the delegate count, she couldn't afford to).

Bitterness is very unbecoming.

[DGregory]

riiight.. on 4000 legislation votes he casted in the state senate and him being present around 100-200 times...

yea that means he voted more as present than on a bill...

People wonder why american in regards to math is near last in the world.

[kcinci]

this one was easy to answer. 133 votes of nearly 8000. this is easy to google and the information has been available for months and months. many people actually look this kind of information on the candidates before they actually vote. imagine that.

[rugbyliz]

If HuffPo would post all the responses, you would know that I apologized for the lack of precision and acknowleged the almost 130-odd "present" votes.
The problem with the "present" votes is that they are a cop-out. Obama was elected to make decisions, and he didn't make them. Instead he didn't vote when it came to issues such as allowing some juveniles to be tried as adults and whether to allow porn shops near schools and houses of worship -- as well as when it came to a woman's right to choose.
As the NYT reported, on 36 of those occasions he was alone or one of a gang of less than 20 to vote "present." In other words, taking the cowardly way out was unique. In about 50 he was playing into some Democratic strategy, which shows that he went along to get along, and he didn't really think on his own. Can you trust this guy?
If Obama wants to be President of this great country, he's going to have to show his true colors and explain why he should be given such a privilege.

[truthynesslover]

As a woman i find it pretty hard to sympathize with any woman who would wait until the late term to have a baby she didnt want.Im pro chioce but women really need to be more responsible for themselves,Im sure this is a rarity butObama is right to take this position.

[Bearangaria]

Define "mental distress."
Get a up close and have a good look at it before you
judge a woman capable of giving birth and living
through it. I do not know a single woman who has
chosen abortion lightly. Neither lightly nor late.
This decision is between a woman, her physician,
and her faith. It does not belong in the hands of
any politician. Period.

[HumeSkeptic]

I do not know a single woman who has
chosen abortion lightly
------------
That means nothing. Many of have never known a single woman who had an abortion. Does that mean that abortions do not happen?

I agree that no one should decide what conditions justify late term abortion other than doctor(s) and the patient (woman) on a case by case basis, just as every other medical decision is made.

Therefore, your opposition to his opinion is just as invalid as his opinion.

.

[rzan1]

And I have known women who used abortion as a means of birfth control, having 3, 4, or 5 abortions.

[Bearangaria]

HS,
You do not say if you know a woman who has had an abortion.
If you have not spoken at length with, or lived thru that experience
with someone close, your own opinion is uninformed.
Obama's statement indicated that a woman in "mental distress"
should not qualify to have a late term abortion, without defining whether
or not "mental distress" meant severe bipolar disorder or aggravation
over weight gain.
My reaction to his statement asks for clarification of "mental distress."
My opposition to anyone other than the woman, her physician,
and her personal faith tenets assisting her in making that abortion call,
stands firm.

[rzan]

If you are choosing a late term abortion, you have already chosen to go through delivery of the baby in some form or another. The fully formed dead baby doesn't just evaporate. There will be a vaginal delivery, or a C-section, of a rather large "product of conception."

[Karen1]

Why do you always delete my comments? Maybe if you idiots had allowed some debate during the primaries we wouldn't be stuck with a Republican like Obama as the Democratic nominee.

[HumeSkeptic]

LOL. So it was because of this web site that the most pro-NeoCon of all Dem candidate (H!llary) was defeated?

The truth is that there was plenty of debate and, luckily, we were able to stop the candidate at the far Right of the Democratic party - an accomplishment we should feel proud of.

[pupbayer]

the candidate of the far right??? I always saw Hillary as a little left of center. Bill was dead on center, in my opinion...a little too moderate for my taste.

[rzan]

I am pro Obama, and one of my comments was not allowed. I don't think there is a conspiracy to leave you out because you mistakenly called Obama a Republican. By the way, Hillary has the same point of view as obama regarding third trimester abortions, as do most women and as does NARAL.

[sef2121]

Wowsa. What is next to get thrown under the Obama bus? We truly have no idea where he stands on the issues because he has only been in the Senate for two seconds. I was not one of the screaming lefties to believe all the garbage this guy spouted to get the nomination. Imagine if he has taken this stance along with campaign finance and faith initiatives during the primary? MoveOn would have disowned him and Hillary would have won. Now he does a 180 and all is unwell on the left. Sorry ladies and gentleman, you got bamboozled.

[Cookie100]

NO! SHE VOTED FOR THE WAR, KYLE LIEBERMAN, CLUSTER BOMBS, THE BANKRUPTCY BILL, she votes like a neo con, SHE COULDN'T BE THE CANDIDATE, geeze, what part don't you get?

[NoahVail]

Bull. Very few people support abortions in the 9th month due to "mental distress", including our candidate. You have no idea where he stands because you are not willing to do the research, and there are many (like yourself) constantly trying to distort his positions.

Troll elsewhere.

[pleeezzze]

How dumb to say anyone has as abortion in the 9th mo.
Why would they ? all they'd need is a cesarean or induced labor .
I know you're a female ,but thats just stupid .
O distorts his OWN positions on everything nearly everyday .

[HumeSkeptic]

Drama Queen?

[truthynesslover]

He is taking the issue away from repugnicans.I say good for him!If mccain wins we loose roe vs. wade anyway since he will be putting the new justices on the supreme court.GO OBAMA!

[Mattie]

so true, and I'm with you. I wasn't fooled, his words just never matched up with his actions, and certainly not with the actions of his campaign.

[Retrofuturistic]

Someone who is "mentally distressed" should not be having a baby. It would not be good for the child.

[NoahVail]

I don't think I knew what "mental distress" was until I had kids.

[bison2]

I teach children of mentally distress parents.

[midwestvoter]

If a woman shouldn't be having children, it wouldn't take 9 months to figure that out.

[JJeff88]

It's time to play: "Let's Get Hysterical."

The media loves it (great for ratings).

But it turns out the whole brou hah hah boils down to whether "mental well-being" should be included as part of what's considered "detrimental to the health of the mother" when establishing exceptions to bans on late term abortions.

Obama isn't throwing Roe v Wade under the bus. He is - given his background in Constitutional Law - trying to make its language less murky.

But in attempting to tighten up the language, he'll still run up against a problem - "How do the courts differentiate between "casual mental distress" and legitimate mental problems on the part of the mother that could eventually lead to abuse of children.

Nevertheless, I view this more as a legitimate opening of the dialog than I do some sort of desertion of abortion rights by Obama.

[mooph]

"You cannot believe that abortion should not be allowed for mental health reasons and support Roe v Wade," O'Steen said.

Mental distress is not a psychiatric diagnosis. It's a layperson's term.

[Gumby123]

Wow Obama, pandering doesn't become you.

[Insideout143]

You definitely made me laugh with that one. I don't think pandering ever enters his mind.

[Gumby123]

Glad to make you laugh however the truth hurts doesn't it?

[mooph]

Perhaps he just too smart to give details -- delineating the nuances where people want a simplistic answer.

A person in mental distress may exhibit some of the symptoms described in psychiatry, such as: anxiety, confused emotions, hallucination, rage, depression and so on without actually being ‘ill’ in a medical sense. Often this is something which resolves without further medical intervention.

[Karen1]

The Supreme Court has already ruled that the health of the mother includes mental health. Obama is definitely trying to weaken abortion rights. How could so many progreessives have been fooled by this guy? He's barely even a Democrat. He has no core beliefs and just tells people what they want to hear.

He will probably pick a Republican Vice President. You watch. Even when Republicans lose, they win.

[InformedVoter08]

Really???.....what a joke!

[InformedVoter08]

When Republicans win, we ALL lose!

[TexasT]

No. He's not. He's holding the same stand that he's always held, that NARAL backs 100%.

Those of us on the left have a problem with code words. If you actually bothered to read the article, Obama is in no way trying to weaking abortion rights -- he was stating his opinion. As a fiercely pro-choice female, I have no problem with what he said.

He has also consistently stated that he would appoint supreme court justices that would uphold a woman's right to medical privacy.

[truthynesslover]

Any woman who waits till the late term to have an abortion deserves to loose those rights!

[keepemhonest]

Karl Rove & Steve Schmidt are running McCain's day to day campaign.

Rove/Schmidt playbook, "Perception is Political Reality."

CNN reported the McCain campaign primed the pump for the press to suggest Obama is changing policy when he had not. -- That is to say, Rove/Schmidt are sending emails to the press to give the "Perception" Obama is flip/flopping when he is not. -- Naturally, the press eats up the sensationalism & reports Rove/Schmidt BS without facts.

McCain is the ultimate flip/flopper and most importantly McCain is Bush3 -- Rove/Schmidt want to distract the media attention away from McCain's flips & McCain's losing policies and direct it with the FALSE PERCEPTION Obama is flipping.

I suggest that people remain aware of the Rove/Schmidt playbook and don't fall for the con game of Rove/Schmidt.

[Candyx]

I would agree the media is licking their lips to put out flip flop information on Obama!

This is shameful journalism and they should be called out on it.

MCCAIN HAS FLIPPED ON ALL THE ISSUES HE HAS STOOD FOR! and the media is not calling him out on it! Do your jobs and stop doing sloppy news reporting the public sees it.

[Marcospinelli]

We're in worse trouble than I thought when informing the electorate is now characterized as "calling him out".

The fact that you know that McCain has "flipped on all of the issues he has stood for" means that the media has reported it ("called him out").

Obama gave an interview and this is what he said. Obama wanted this information to be disseminated.

[Cookie100]

CNN = Faux News, no difference

[boing007]

So what do you propose for these women who are mentally distressed near the end of their pregnancy besides shut up and have the baby? If you don't have any ideas to propose then your attitude is a moral one and nothing more.

[InformedVoter08]

if they are so mentally distressed then have the baby and give it up for adoption...gosh...i've had 3 kids and my entire pregnancies have been distressed!!!...pregnancy is no fun but you can't decide you're going to have a baby and then choose to abort it at the end just because you don't feel like having it anymore...makes sense to anyone??

[lysistrata]

Women don't wait until the last moment to have an abortion unless there are late term medical reasons. The decision should be the woman's with the advise of her physician, it is her life and her believes and she has to live with it. We have no right to force another woman to live with the consequences of our believes.

It is just as wrong to force a woman to full term pregnancy as it is to force her to abort.

And the men should stay out of it, they will never have to live with the consequence of the decision. They just walk away too often.

[mooph]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Yes it makes sense.

I would add, however, that there are legitimate mental health issues that could arise during pregnancy, which could fall under the catch-all of mental distress. Yet, those serious medical issues have other names, and should be referenced as such.

[pupbayer]

No. I've heard others make the same remark. I don't think you know what real distress is. It's not being "stressed out" and feeling antsy or down. It is a very real condition. Surprise. It is for a doctor and his patient to determine and decide the best course of action. Period. It doesn't matter what you think, what Obama thinks, or what Tom Cruise thinks. My body, my life, my decision along with my doctor. You don't want an abortion, don't have one. What is so hard to understand about that?

I don't like late term abortion at all either but I'm smart enough to know there are situations, that thank God I've never found myself in or nor has any of my family members, that may warrant this drastic measure. Was I put on earth to judge and make that decision for others? I think not. Were you? I think not.

[Cookie100]

Adoption. Babies are born at 6-7 months everyday and live to have healthy lives.

[pleeezzze]

Adopt yourself ...."Noone" has a right to decide someone should stay pregnant ,if they do not choose to .
Being pregnant and helpless is much worse than raising children .

[Mattie]

just another issue in a long list where Obama is dumping his base and pandering to get as many votes as possible. What a fraud this man is....Politics of hope and change....too funny!

[pupbayer]

The edittorial cartoon in our morning paper today had a picture of Obama speaking and in big lettters behind him "SHIFT We Can Believe In."

[InformedVoter08]

Yes, thanks to the media, they are trying to make this race closer than it really is...all of this talk of Obama "shifting" to the middle etc... is a farse!

Check out Dailykos: Obama, the flip-flopper? Give me a break.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/5/13146/00395/160/546980

[BassMent]

That's absurd. I don't believe that Obama's "base" believes that women should be allowed to terminate a pregnancy in the third trimester just because they suddenly become "distressed" about what is happening in their lives.

Polls show that a bare majority of Americans believe that abortion should remain legal, with strict guidelines about the point in the timeline of the pregnancy when the abortion can be performed and beyond which it cannot. This is the way abortion laws have worked up to this point, and it's this delicate balance between when abortion is okay and when it's not (albeit a somewhat arbitrary distinction) that has kept Roe v Wade from being overturned.

McCain has stated repeatedly, both in speeches/interviews and on his web site, that he is dedicated to overturning Roe v Wade. Keep your eye on the ball, people.

[GoldCanyonGal]

BassMent:
"I don't believe that Obama's "base" believes that women should be allowed to terminate a pregnancy in the third trimester just because they suddenly become "distressed" about what is happening in their lives."

Excuse me, you don't think a woman should be ALLOWED....? R v W is the law of the land...period...(and to use Obama emphasis) full stop. You are entitles to you ropinion...but you are the one who is NOT ALLOWED (by law) to shove your opinions off on me when it comes to reproductive freedoms.

The Right to Life campaign has been picking apart R v W, one piece at a time for more than 30 years...that's their strategy...any concession just encourages them to keep up the dull droning of their fanaticism...it's a legal argument that has long since been made and won. If you want to continue the moral debate, you and Obama do so at your own peril. Drop it!

[floydknight]

I'm going to blame your comment on your heart and not your head.

[rzan1]

Actually, he has remained remarkably consistent on the issue of late term abortions and on most issues for that matter. He is not pandering at all.

[keepemhonest]

Karl Rove & Steve Schmidt are running McCain's day to day campaign.

Rove/Schmidt playbook, "Perception is Political Reality."

CNN reported the McCain campaign primed the pump the press to suggest Obama is changing policy when he had not. -- That is to say, Rove/Schmidt are sending emails to the press to give the "Perception" Obama is flip/flopping when he is not.

McCain is the ultimate flip/flopper. Rove/Schmidt want to distract the media attention away from McCain's flips and direct it with the FALSE PERCEPTION Obama is flipping.

I suggest that people remain aware of the Rove/Schmidt playbook and don't fall for the con game of Rove/Schmidt.

[mooph]

Also falls under the category of defining his strength as a weakness. Especially when comparing the two candidates.