Obama Ad: McCain Camp Sleazy, Extreme On Abortion

WASHINGTON — Democrat Barack Obama is airing a new ad in New Mexico and Ohio that defends his abortion rights record and says Republican rival John McCain backs a party platform that would deny abortions to victims of rape and incest.

Obama's ad answers an independent ad campaign, financed by an anti-abortion philanthropist, that singles out Obama's efforts in the Illinois Senate to defeat the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

"Now votes taken out of context, accusing Obama of letting infants die? It's a despicable lie," Obama's ad states.

As an Illinois state senator, Obama opposed three legislative efforts in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to give legal protections to any aborted fetus that showed signs of life. The 2003 measure was virtually identical to a bill President Bush signed into law in 2002 that unanimously passed the U.S. Senate.

Obama and other opponents of the Illinois bill have noted the state already had a law to protect aborted fetuses born alive and considered able to survive. Moreover, they said the proposed legislation would have undermined the landmark Supreme Court case on abortion, Roe v. Wade, in ways the federal law would not. Among those opposed to the state effort was the Illinois State Medical Society, which argued that the bill would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and expand civil liability for doctors.

The independent ad is being aired by BornAliveTruth.org, specifically targeting Albuquerque, N.M., and Cleveland markets. The Obama ad is appearing in the same markets.

The BornAliveTruth ad, financed by prominent Massachusetts anti-abortion figure Raymond Ruddy, features Gianna Jessen, a 31-year-old motivational speaker from Nashville, Tenn., who adopted as a child after a failed abortion. "Sen. Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I'm living proof these babies have a right to live."

Obama's ad links McCain to the independent ad, though the McCain campaign did not pay for or air it.

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"McCain, he's running on a platform to ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest," Obama's ad says. "Sleazy ads, anti-choice, that's John McCain."

The Republican platform approved at the party's national convention earlier this month asserts the GOP's opposition to abortion, including in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.

McCain has supported such exemptions in the past, but did not try to alter the party's stance at the convention.

Jill Stanek, a nurse and anti-abortion activist who organized BornAliveTruth, said Obama still needs to explain his votes. "These babies have the same rights as the rest of us," she said in response to Obama's ad.

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On the Net:

BornAliveTruth: http://www.bornalivetruth.org

Obama: http://www.barackobama.com

Comments

[Js420]

ask every republican female out there..if your dad or brother raped you, would you keep the baby? how about if you were forced to keep it? My brain cant understand why ANY female would support Palin????

[MizLiz]

Okay, here's a worse scenario: You are forced to bear the child of an incestuous rape, and you give it up for adoption. Guess what. The potential adoptive parents usually don't know what's going on, and in some cases, they've been put in extreme danger.

[sleek]

FACT:
McCain/Palin are proven, documented LIARS and HYPOCRITES. They are FRAUDS.

Anyone who still believes in them has some serious issues going on.

[ProFromOre]

"The Failure Party": bringing you lies, hypocrisy, deceit and failure since 1972.

"If it wasn't for lies, there'd be no Palin, or GOP, at all"

[thinkingcatholic]

Thinking Catholics (like Joe Biden) know that to abort or not is a difficult choice a woman needs to make by herself...or with the help of those who love her and her God. It is not for the republican Government to decide. Tell the republican Government extremists to get out of Americans' uteruses.

[lemonyashes]

And Republicans say they are for less goverment in people's lives! OH Really? How much government would it take to make abortion illegal. The religious right also wants prayer in schools how much government in our lives would that take? Give me a break. Hypocracy vs. Democracy it's as simple as that.

[RumiSouth]

Who is the number one abortion provider in the world?

Well, since 33% of all pregnancies end spontaneously -- usually without the mother ever knowing she was pregnant -- the answer would have to be "GOD."

[SouthpawSass]

LOL - I never thought of that.
God is pro choice...

[dkerrice2861]

If God had not been pro-choice, he would not have gifted us with free will. Try explaining that to some of those so-called Christians who believe otherwise!They are too busy PLAYING God to realize their hypocrisy and depth of their own sin.

[janinei]

Hey all you trolls out there... answer this.... why do republicans hate women?? Why would you defend a woman who would charge women who have been raped for a rape kit??

[SouthpawSass]

Sad thing is, children get raped too. Imagine being the parent of a six year old rape victim and getting a bill from Sarah Palin for the kit used on your child... What would she say to the child, "You shouldn't have worn those purple shorts and enticed the man in the first place."??? It's the same mentality.

[kenx]

All anti-choice men who are engaging in sexual activity should have vasectomies.

[progressivelady]

Hit em hard Obama, get em good and stay focused on the issue's.

[moski]

You do know that it is true don't you?

[vgirl1]

Unless Palin's daughter marries her baby's Daddy before the election (since he says he doesn't want kids), I don't believe they will ever marry. Let's see how this one plays out.

Remember, too, the very people who are supporting this unwed mother and her mother Palin, are the same people who massacred Britney Spear's 16 year old sister for finding herself in the same predicament. What hypocrites. I

t is alright and noble to carry the baby when the unwed mother is one of them. When it is not one of them it is a sin and example of how amoral and decadent our society has become. Do these conservative, Evangelical, neo-cons ever take responsiblity for any of their positions and consider applying them equally to all?

[MizLiz]

I feel sorry for those two kids. They are being used as political tools. I hope they stand fast and refuse to get married just to suit Mom's political ambitions.

[shades]

I don't see it happening. When are they going to find time to get married? Stand 'em up in front of a county judge during one of mom's fly bys? It's a no-brainer the guy doesn't want to get married but what about the daughter? I'm sure that's not the wedding she had envisioned.

[T Pol]

Interesting that Palin doesn't have a problem with divorce...her sister got one, and Palin used her office to go after the ex. Great family values.

So the kids can get married, and it'll be okay if it ends up in divorce. How convenient.

These thoughts have to be running through the boy's mind.

But I don't want to sit in judgment of Palin's family. More to the point, I don't want Sarah Palin promoting legislation that judges MINE!

Yes, the hypocrisy is non-stop. Criticize celebrity, but have Sarah sign autographs. Damn Jamie Lynn Spears, but praise Palin Bristol. Dan Quayle damned Murphy Brown, a TV character. Criticize "change," but start pounding that message. Criticize experience, then pick Palin and try to inflate her credentials with idiocy like living next to Russia.

The Republican campaign has been positively ridiculous and deserves all the criticism it is getting.

[dejtemper]

A case can be made for either side of this issue. To me, what it boils down to is personal choice. Who are we, as a government, to take this choice away from an individual? We are so quick to talk about all of our freedoms in this country, but when it comes down to a women having the freedom to make her own choice, we are debating it. It really does not matter if you are for having abortions, or against having abortions - it is about personal choice, and that should not be taken away from anyone.

[pithy]

I've never understood the whole debate - if you're against abortion, don't HAVE one.

I, myself, am much more upset with the ease with which we bomb and maim actual walking-around kids than I am with the disruption of a few cells. But tha'ts just me.

There were fewer abortions during the Clinton administration, because Democrats believe in helping disadvantaged young women with child care, health insurance, education, legal advocates and potenitally, adoption, if that's what they choose.

Makes sense to me - but I'm just a bleeding liberal - and damn proud of it!

[molsongrrrl]

Exactly! It isn't up to me or you or the government to decide what is right for a particular woman. She needs to make that choice. Full stop.

[kellygrrrl]

ENOUGH!

Enough with the HYPOCRISY
Enough with the LIES
Enough with the FEAR
Enough with the Fake Outrage
Enough with the Corruption and Abuse and Destruction

SPEAK UP AMERICA!!!

[kellygrrrl]

McCain - No Friend to the Vets - No Friend to the POW

http://www.truthout.org/article/mccain-and-pow-cover-up

[cmilburn]

Hyocrites. Palin and Co. laud her daughter's (?) decision to have the baby and marry the dad. Has anyone checked the statistics on how long teen marriages last? Especially in Alaska, home to the highest incidences of violence against females in the nation? And by the way, if anyone cares to do the math, it appears that Sarah Palin herself was pregnant when she got married to Todd. The truth is out there, people. You just have to care enough to look for it.

[Rumba]

As a pentecostal at the time she did the unthinkable....eloped to get married and have her baby 8 mos later. Nothing wrong with that....except her pious hypocracy.

[justobserve]

Exactly!

[sleek]

WHY ISN"T BRISTOL PALIN ALREADY MARRIED? She only needs parental consent. Why doesn't Sarah Palin give her consent to marry NOW?

[teron678]

Obama Rally in NC

http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream1

[raker]

Opposition to abortion except in cases of rape and incest is an indefensible and corrupt position. If that's someone's view, then why in the first place do they oppose abortion's being legal? Because the zygote's a person with a soul? Then so is a zygote resulting from rape. Rape and incest exceptions betray the true motivation, the belief that there must be punishing consequences for pleasurable sex, but not necessarily for unwelcome sex.

[Martee]

NO ONE IS PRO-ABORTION! Repub-lie-cans just want to make women criminals when they go to back alley abortionist -- and Dems want to reduce the abortion rate through age appropriate sex ed -- available contraception -- and builiding a society where a woman might actually be able to raise a child she chooses to have.