Question for NARAL Pro Choice America: Please Explain Your Tortured Defense of Obama's Flop on Abortion Rights
Please explain your organization's tortured defense of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama reversal on abortion rights. I ask that since Senator Obama clearly said in his recent interview in Relevant, a Christian magazine that "I don't think mental distress qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy." That directly flies in the face of NARAL Pro Choice America's etched in stone position on the late term abortion ban that states, "A health exception must also account for the mental health problems that may occur in pregnancy."
NARAL has repeatedly gone to the political and legal barricades against Congress, the Supreme Court, state and federal courts and state legislatures to ensure that the crucial and medically sound mental health exception remain intact when a woman in late term pregnancy seeks an abortion. In fact, NARAL regards the mental health distress exception as an anchor protection of a woman's right to an abortion.
Obama's position on the mental distress exception is the diametric opposite of NARAL's. As such, it also flies in the face of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe versus Wade ruling which held that states can ban late term abortions except when the pregnancy directly threatens a woman's physical and mental health. His position flies in the face of three decades of federal and state court rulings which have upheld mental distress as a legitimate reason for approving a late term abortion. Obama's reversal flies in the face of the Freedom of Choice Act that he himself has co-sponsored in Congress. The act unequivocally permits late term abortions when the physical and mental health of a woman is jeopardized.
Obama's volte face on the mental health protection for women that seek abortions in late term and seek to skirt the late term ban flies in the face of his own stated position a year ago. He then blasted the Supreme Court's decision upholding a federal court's ruling banning late term abortions.
This was a major reason why your organization endorsed Obama this past May and since then have beat the drums on your website for him. You even call on your site for 73 people a week to volunteer to help Obama beat his Republican rival John McCain. Unfortunately to justify your over the top support of Obama, you've violated your own precept and principle on when and under what conditions a late term abortion can and should be permitted. You have done an unconscionable political somersault to rationalize Obama's back flip on abortion rights even though it's obvious his flip is nothing more than a crass political pander to Christian fundamentalists and conservative pro-life advocates for votes.
Please then tell me this. Why is it so difficult for NARAL to publicly express disappointment with Obama on the flip flop? Why is it so difficult to challenge him to rethink his position on late term abortions? Does NARAL believe that Obama is above criticism? Does NARAL think by stating its frank opposition to Obama's reversal that the organization risks dumping the election to McCain?
Or, is it simply a case that NARAL fears shame and embarrassment in publicly admitting that Obama may not be the unrelenting vigorous and principled defender of a woman's right to choose in any and all circumstances that NARAL thought he was? Would that admission be too big a blow to NARAL's organizational ego?
I await your answers.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House (Middle Passage Press, February 2008).
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I'm not so sure why so many on here are attempting to justify or not justify Obama's position within the greater realm of abortion "rights". If you (this includes you, NARAL) believe a woman has a constitutional right to abort a fetus, but you're willing to offer your own "moral" compass as to reasons that are acceptable and unacceptable, are you really any better than those who wish to ban abortions outright because of their own moral feelings on the subject?
If it's a right, it's a right.
Sure, Mr. Hutchinson. Let's make this election about late-term abortions when we're at war in 2 countries and losing both of them, when the environment is in crisis, when people can't get treatment for cancer if they have a pre-existing condition, when the price of gas is sky high and the education system in many parts of the country is in absolute ruins and McCain is offering 4 more years of the same, not to mention flip flop after flip flop on almost all of the most important issues facing the country. BUT NO, LET'S FOCUS ON THE REALLY IMPORTANT ISSUES. You know, if we don't get NARAL to start a big argument with Obama over late-term abortions, well, we may never find Osama Bin Laden! NARAL must grow some balls FAST if we're ever to stop global warming. Keep up the really relevant and important posts. I could see if Obama decided that abortions in general shouldn't be allowed, or if he, like McCain, decided that rape-victims and victims of incest shouldn't be allowed to have abortions, but his "reversal" on mental distress as justification for late-term abortions isn't a big issue, and shouldn't be.
I'm sorry but this is an important issue. Try to put yourself in the place of a pregnant woman who loves and wants her child, but the child is encephalitic. This condition places the mother in mortal danger. If she attempts to give natural birth, she will die trying. In encephalitis the fetus’s skull is filled with water. The neurons that make up the brain cannot grow because of the pressure and the skull also becomes too large to pass through the birth canal. Delivered fetuses’ seldom live more than a few days outside of the womb. The late term abortion law makes these mothers go through an expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary cesarean section in order to deliver a child that is either stillborn or will not live more than a few days. One can assume However, that those in our congress are medical experts who know better than doctors as to how to treat these conditions. I’m absolutely certain that Barrack Obama has the necessary expertise to make these decisions behalf of these poor misguided mothers.
It doesn’t matter to me if Obama was a conservative masquerading as a liberal in order to win the Democratic nomination or a is now a liberal who is now pretending to be a conservative. Either way, he comes out a liar.
BO said he supports exceptions allowing late-term abortions for health of the mother. So, where is the problem? If the condition means there is a bona fide health problem, then it's allowed!
"Please explain your organization's tortured defense of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama reversal on abortion rights."
Mr. Hutchinson,
Please explain your obvious attempt to create controversy where none exist? I am willing to go out on a limb and guess that you probably agree with Sen Obama's position on late term abortions as do the majority of Americans in general and women in particular. Never mind the fact that Obama is not saying anything different from what he has stated in the past.
I am sure that you are aware that there is a big difference from "mental distress" and "mental illness". As you know, one is a medical term and the other is merely a description of one's reaction to life events, subject to change with a change in life events and without the need for medical intervention.
Mental distress, such is my mental state upon reading this article, but surely were I pregnant that would not be justification for terminating a pregnancy. This type of ill conceived rhetoric is just one of the reasons why we have come so close to the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Any mother can tell you that by the third trimester, mother and fetus have established a relationship. Aborting at that point would not be an easy thing. Most mothers would not attempt it unless there were some pretty difficult circumstances involved.
Apparently you have no interest in advancing the conversation around this issue, but rather prefer to manufacture controversy.
Obama is the white male establishment's black candidate. You've been hoodwinked. You should have listened to me. I've had his number from day one.
Your post makes no sense. How come all the MSM demonizes him with phony stuff?
Should I ever need political wisdom from a raging bigot I'll be sure to come sit at your feet and you can say "Aaah Grasshopper". And I'll pretend to think you're really wise.
Alot of us have & it looks like some of BHO's supporters are getting confused by his what ever you want to call it .. Flip Flopping, Back tracking .. it's all the same ... he told people WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR during the primary .. so, now that he has to try & win the people who backed Hillary, he's pandering to them, to get their vote in the fall ..
Oh & lets not forget how ALL his supporters who are suppose to be trying to include us, are still fighting us on line .. they call us names, especially "racist" since we haven't fallen in step with BHO like the DNC want us too .. they're even trying to scare us by saying Roe vs Wade will be over turned .. don't think so .. Rep have had ruling majority for awhile now ..
It Doesn't surprise me that Mr Hutchison is bashing Senator Obama. I haven't seen any of his post here say anything positive about Senator Obama. I doubt he will ever have anything about the Senator
This was not a flip-flop by Obama. He's just refining his position.
The woman is in considerably more danger when getting a late-term abortion, her risk of bleeding to death, never again being able to bear a child, or other severe complications more than exponentially increased, which is why DOCTORS recommend NOT performing late-term abortions without physical danger or necessity as driving factors.
Scientific studies point out that abortion late in the pregnancy has much the same hormonal effects as giving birth, and this mimicry of post-partum depression is an important reason NOT to wait when one needs or desires an abortion.
Besides which, pregnancy-related mental health issues show up early or tend to come into play AFTER giving birth because of hormonal changes late-term abortion (natural or intentional) also produces.
In light of these facts, as opposed to emotion-driven arguments based on purely academic interpretations of women's rights, the consequences of late-term abortions make performing them prohibitively dangerous with merely mental/emotional rationale.
Support what Obama supports--wider acceptance of and support for early-term abortions so they are easier to get for those who need them and responsibly performed and monitored by those who provide them--and you're not only enabling greater abortion rights but also saving women's lives and checkbooks.
It's harmful to women, to the success rate and PR of abortions, and to the Democratic presidential candidate to attack Obama for refusing to support women-endangering late-term abortions that lack physical cause.
Reporter: You said that mental distress shouldn't be a reason for late-term abortion?
Obama: "My only point is this -- historically I have been a strong believer in a women's right to choose with her doctor, her pastor and her family. And it is ..I have consistently been saying that you have to have a health exception on many significant restrictions or bans on abortions including late-term abortions.
In the past there has been some fear on the part of people who, not only people who are anti-abortion, but people who may be in the middle, that that means that if a woman just doesn't feel good then that is an exception. That's never been the case.
I don't think that is how it has been interpreted. My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases. It is not just a matter of feeling blue. I don't think that's how pro-choice folks have interpreted it. I don't think that's how the courts have interpreted it and I think that's important to emphasize and understand
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The structure of the Roe decision is such that it invites further consideration in light of advances in medicine. The best that one can realsitically hope for is that such changes will be carefully thought out and no more extensive than absolutely necessary.
Compared to McCain who'd ban birth control if he could overturn Griswold? You gotta be kidding.
What am I missing here?
A woman suffering mental distress during a a late-term pregnancy is substantially differerent from a woman who is encountering mental health issues during a late term pregnancy. Distress vs. Health?
Distress is usually temporary. Health is usually a long-term condition.
Late-term pregnancy implies a a viable human life. Destroying that life must necessarily imply sacrificing the viability of one life for another. Mental distress does not rise to the level of that sacrifice equation. Mental health might, but it is so elusive as a definite as to raise considerable questions about its justification in that equation. Obama's problem in his position is that he appears to eliminate mental issues to any degree regarding late-term pregnancies.
As pro-choice as I am, I never signed on for destroying the viable life of a fetus in late-term pregnancies unless the phyiscal life of the mother was at stake - or unless taking that prenancy to term would verifiably destroy the mental health of the mother.
Obama had a dilemma here. He made a decision on the side of the life of the fetus. It seems to me the odds are 50-50 either way. That means he has the same chance of being right as being wrong.
Let us be clear that up until late-term, what Obama or I or anyone else but the woman involved should think about her decision regarding abortion is irrevelant.
When Senator Barack Obama, (or Senator John McCain, for that matter) change their opinions why is it always referred to as a "flip-flop?" Perhaps, they are listening to the people and what they want.
Most of the time, there is no excuse for "late term" abortions. If there is, that should be addressed by each case, individually.
A President Obama would be answerable to all American's not just one group. There is to much being spent in this election. It is time for Barack Obama to show all American's he owes no favors and he is leaving the crony system behind.
The problem is that he hasn't changed his positions except with FISA. Now even with FISA he's position still remains the same, but he was willing to let go off some stuff to get some other stuff to pass. That's what it takes to get things to pass in congress. Bills are always perfect, but as long as some core requirements are met, you can let some other things pass.
On other issues like faith based inititiatives, the Iraq war, late term abortion, NAFTA etc, he's been consistent. The problem is that people probably didn't take the time to research Obama. All they had to do was read the audacity of hope and see that he was definitely a different type of liberal. He isn't an ideologue who demonizes everyone else who doesn't support or aggrees with him. In fact, he even stated that neither the right or the left have a monopoly on good ideas and guess what he said this during the primary season.
In a nutshell, he's been consistent on his views. I'm 100% with him on all he's stated and his positions so far. My only problem with him is that he sought of seems a little too eager sometimes to draw some contrast with us on the left all in the name of seeming tough. Case in point, we've been passed moveOn's brouhaha several months ago. Why regugitate it again in a speech onh patrotism? It amounts to opening an old scab. Totally unnecessary. Also, on the speech at AIPAC, he'd done enough to show his support for the nation of Israel and his commitment to soud diplomacy. Why go a step further to say Jerusalem will be the undivided capital of Israel? That kind of changes the landscape in negotiations. Why didn't anybody vet that policy position
NARAL has already lost millions in contributions due to their shameful treatment of Senator Clinton; when you sell out your advocate and supporters, you will sell out anything and Senator Obama knows this, so he is doing what he has always done; speak well now and do little if nothing later. A real politician!
Most women [there are 500-600 third trimetser abortions/year in the US] who get third trimester abortions due so for serious life threatening medical conditions; often, because the fetus has died in-utero or is in such bad shape, a live birth is not possible. There is also dx as renal failure, malignant hypertension, serious bleeding issues, latent cardiac issues, cancer, late dx of a serious fetal genetic disorder, etc. If the fetus is in good condition and the mother can tolerate surgery, the fetus can be delivered via C-section at or about 32 week gestation.
This business of "she can have an abortion all 9 mos of pregnancy" is just conjecture and designed to sully the nature of women and case disperstions on their moral fitness and sanity. . .people who make such charges are not to be believed under any circumstances.
There seems to be this belief among some religious elements in our society, that if a woman isn't willing to die in a high risk pregancy, she is somehow not "worthy" of survival, respect or consideration. I wonder if the same would be said of men refusing to do their "duty".
How was their treatment of Clinton "shameful?" How does that affect this discussion?
Mr. Hutchinson,
I am distressed with Obama's contention that mental health should not be a consideration because that would lead to forcing women who were raped or victims of incest to go through the pregnancy. Though Obama was discussing late term abortion, it chips away at the right for women to control their own bodies and healthcare.
But in the context of late term abortion; which is very rare, performed on women who wanted to have children and are a last resort when a pregnancy goes horribly wrong your outrage one of those straw men both the right and left use to get women riled up.
NARAL and the Obama campaign will most definitely here from me on this subject but...John McCain is against abortion under any circumstance including the life/health of the mother and birth control. So no freaking way in hell would I vote for that guy just because Obama pandered to a christian mag. I can influence Obama on this subject because he is at least pro-choice but John McCain is a loser on the subject altogether.
The quote I've seen said "mental distress" not "mental health". There is a difference.
Obama's position, as the President of NARAL states, is perfectly within the bounds set by Roe, which limited late-term abortions. and Obama didn't say that "mental health" would somehow be eliminated as a factor, as the poster here is disingenuously implying. he said that 'mental distress' alone would not be a reason to have a late term abortion which was otherwise not in compliance with existing laws. its a pander, yes, but its a pander with a point. if he grabs some votes because of a statement like this, where he decries something almost non-applicable to the topic, but which sounds like 'something', then good for him. there has been no change whatsoever in his position, he has always been staunchly pro-choice, has a perfect positive pro-choice voting record, and will continue to be very good on the issue of choice. your conclusion that this will somehow lead to disqualifying "mental health" as something which could potentially necessitate an abortion is not at all supported by what he said.
There is a balance to be had here and I think Obama has staked out a good position.
Mental duress is an acceptable reason for 1st & 2nd trimester abortions. So rape, incest, etc. would not be affected as long as the abortion was performed during that time.
He was referring only to late term (3rd trimester) abortions. He still supports this procedure if there is a physical danger to the mother.
I'm not sure why this is a controversial position.
As it has been pointed out elswhere (DailyKos, I think), this is the same stance as that right wing paragon, Russ Feingold.
Obama said that late term abortions are wrong in most cases. He didn't say that they should be made illegal.
He actually did say that he thought they could be limited or banned outright (it's in the transcript of the original magazine article).
He didn't say he was in FAVOR of banning them, but the fact that he clearly believes that the establishment of moral (as opposed to medical) limitations on them does indicate..
But it doesn't matter. NARAL wants his donor lists -- they've been very clear on that -- and as long as he doesn't come out foursquare against first-trimester abortion, they'll continue backing him.
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