GOP Rep Tiahrt Asks Whether Obama's Mother Would Have Had An Abortion (VIDEO)

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Arguing to restrict the public funding of abortions within the District of Columbia, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kans.) suggested on Thursday afternoon that if such "financial incentives" were available some 47 years ago, President Barack Obama himself may never have been born.

"If you think of it in human terms, there is a financial incentive that will be put in place, paid for by tax dollars, that will encourage women who are -- single parents, living below the poverty level, to have the opportunity for a free abortion," said Tiahrt. "If you take that scenario and apply it to many of the great minds we have today, who would we have been deprived of? Our president grew up in a similar circumstance."

"If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it?" Tiahrt asked. "Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great mind? The opportunity to have tax-funded abortions, a financial incentive, is something that I think most of us want to oppose in America and it's certainly deserves a clean up or down vote."

The comments, pointed out by an eagle-eyes CSPAN viewer, are a classic charge of abortion opponents, though, in this case, rife with political sensitivities. Usually it is Beethoven, not Obama, who plays the role of the fortunately non-terminated fetus.

But for Tiahrt to group the president together with another minority figure -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas -- is to invite another round of questions over how the GOP is actually relating to minority communities. Just this week, Michael Steele was asked how to woo black voters to the Republican tent by a questioner who offered up collard greens. I'll bring the "fried chicken and potato salad" the RNC Chairman, himself an African-American, responded. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., meanwhile, told Sonia Sotomayor, a Hispanic, that she had "some 'splaining to do."

Comments

[Vern58]

08:39 AM on 07/28/2009

I can scarcely believe that the mostly good people of my home state are going to elect this monstrosity to the United States Senate.

[powerlift2201]

01:21 PM on 07/22/2009

Congressman, Poor women have unwanted babies because most poor people are religious. They have the views of the religious body drilled into their own beliefs and morality. They aren't well educated about contraception or they elect not to use any because some religious groups believe even that to be a sin. Even if abortions were free for everyone, the number of abortions wouldn't change - they might even drop because the education and availability of contraception would increase - because these women woulld cling to their religious (not practical) dogma.

[grammargirl]

05:43 PM on 07/21/2009

It's quite evident now that these guys want to reprise the 1960's civil rights struggles...

[Gens328]

10:04 PM on 07/20/2009

His comments are very offensive to me. How dare he insinuate that lower income women are waiting in line for public funded (Free) abortions. So if you're low income and/or single and find yourself pregnant abortion is your only choice? Give me a break. I would take a guess and say many of these women are raising their children alone and with little or no help from the gov't. Yes there are some on welfare and assistance, and education is expensive or not available, jobs that pay above the poverty level are few and far between. The gov't would be doing us all a favor by making our economy stronger and educating everyone so there would be less unwanted babies and better adoption for those wanting.

[Bronxdude]

09:42 AM on 07/20/2009

Todd Tiahrt is a victim of White privilege—I can say whatever I want to say with no ramifications.

[Jetling]

07:18 PM on 07/18/2009

He'd make a much more effective argument if he'd been wondering about someone who might have had his seat in the House of Representatives - so we could be spared his inanity.

[Honabet]

06:09 PM on 07/18/2009

I just logged in so I don't know if anyone else has mentioned the issue of contraceptives.
I believe abortion should be available to those who desire one - for whatever
reason. But the issue of contraceptives - whether daily pills or the day after pill,
should be available. This is a relatively inexpensive and efficient way to prevent
unwanted pregnancy. Of course, there has to be education and information available.
I see so many teen-age women with babies because they want someone to love
or they think that will make them "important" or they think this will cement their
relationships with their teen-age boyfriends. Those attitudes nrrd to be addressed
so there will be less need for the trial and trauma of abortion. Because it is a
trial and trauma no matter what the circumstances.

[Driver125]

05:55 PM on 07/18/2009

An amazing situation. It's as if the election of Barack Obama has signaled racists everywhere that it is now officially OK to air their disgusting points of view without shame or regrets of any kind. When do they start agitating for separate but equal?

[Jetling]

06:57 PM on 07/18/2009

See: Buchanan, Pat

[LonghornDem]

04:14 PM on 07/18/2009

Providing an abortion for someone who needs it but can't afford it is now "financial incentive" to have one? These guys never cease to amaze. It's not incentive to have an abortion. What we currently have is people giving every disincentive to women to have abortions, whether it's intimidation, mandatory sonograms, requiring them to pay for it even if their life is in danger, and so on. Acting like this is going to open up a floodgate of abortions is ridiculous.

The racially charged nature of it is just the cherry on top. What a buffoon. He can't think of anyone else that might not have been born besides the two most accomplished African Americans currently in government?

[Forest]

03:13 PM on 07/18/2009

The GOP has become a party of (foe-mo sapiens neanderthalensis).

[Hoslo2]

02:22 PM on 07/18/2009

When did the morality left the congress buliding?
I have seen some really ugly clashes in parliament context around the world. Even physical attacs.
But this one was below the belt. Dirthy. This the desperate, desperate GOP! Ugly!

[alwqb]

02:00 PM on 07/18/2009

How do these people get elected to office in the first place? We live in scary times. We give the pulpit to some uneducated racist to disparage our President and a whole component of our nation. When will people stop drawing a line in the sand thinking they are better than anyone else.

[proudliberalmommie]

11:26 AM on 07/18/2009

keep talking you GOP idiots...and keep unmasking how truly you are the party of unintelligence, immoraitly and ignorance. i love it. please keep talking, all you coburns and palins. please limbaughh, feel free to jump in!

[joeyfoto]

06:10 AM on 07/18/2009

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kans.) - another big fan of Jack Abramoff, who WAS returned to congress by a large majority, after sleazy disclosures of inappropriate and improperly-disclosed relationships with known scumbags, who is pontificating on morality in a blatantly racially insensitive manner.

I guess you can get away with this sort of ugly racism in Kansas. Shame on them. If this speech was designed to appeal to the voters of his district, they deserve each other.

[IgnoranceOftheMasses]

01:12 AM on 07/18/2009

Huh... I never figured there were this many idiots

#1 Obamas mother is WHITE! (for all you race card throwing liberals)

#2 This debate is about public funding of abortions in Washington DC, nowhere else. Given the fact that approximately 2/3rds of that population is black, and that approximately 90% of DC's people who would be affected by this bill are black. exactly why is it inappropriate to use 2 blacks as examples?

#3 Obviously a single parent living BELOW the poverty line would be more likely to get a FREE abortion then single parent making good money or a man and a women making enough to get by and afford the needs of a child. If you are living below the poverty line you can barely afford to house and feed yourself let alone a child so yes POVERTY is a decisive factor which is exactly what this debate is all about. Having struggling single mothers get free abortions at the expense of tax payers which the speaker does his best to put into persective that if this goes through they stand the posibility of losing future great minds that come from these types of families.

#4 He never says Obama's mother would of aborted him. He says "The president grew up in those simular circumstances. If that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may of taken advantage of it?" The answer to this question is "YES" of course it is POSSIBLE

[ECBA88]

01:37 PM on 07/18/2009

Notably, the issue here is whether the TAXPAYERS OF DC have the FREEDOM to VOTE on whether or not they would like to publicly fund abortions, or whether the BIG FEDERAL GOVERNMENT can tell them what they are and aren't allowed to do with their collective money.

Isn't this a states' rights issue? Is it the US Congressman from Kansas's business whether the city of Washington, DC thinks abortion is okay or not?

I love how most Republicans only talk about civil liberties and states' rights when it involves them holding onto their own money despite a majority consensus that it should be pooled, not when people somewhere else wanna do something the Republicans don't like.

[GinnyinCO]

03:56 PM on 07/18/2009

IOM,

The statistical issue of #3 is the relationship between poverty and intelligence. The stress is not limited to the embryo not aborted, but all siblings. Poor people are probably very aware of how expensive children are. They are criticized for having big TVs or other expensive items. Then they are expected to accept the huge cost in money and time having a child.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/03/27/0811910106.full.pdf+html

"The income–achievement gap is a formidable societal problem, .....We show that childhood poverty is inversely related to working memory in young adults. ... this prospective relationship is mediated by elevated chronic stress during childhood. Chronic stress is a ... marker of cumulative wear and tear on the body that is caused by ... multiple physiological systems in response to chronic environmental demands."

Stress also is the basis for all illness. Another problem for children of poverty.

The debate will apply to public funding for the entire country, putting the government between women and their doctors. Forcing other people's religious beliefs into everyone's behavior.

The $533,700,000,000 Pentagon budget that takes 33 cents of every tax dollar I pay. Another 33 cents goes to the interest on the debt - most of which is due to war and military spending. I don't get to oppose paying that, no matter how much I objected to the Pentagon budgets, the wars and the whole financial system the Fed - a private banking group- gets to make huge profits from.