Still Waiting…

National Right to Life PAC posted a new version of its web ad: “Waiting for Obama’s Apology” last night.  Watch it below or view it on NRL PAC’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/nrlpac.

Obama’s “brazen scam” on abortion exposed in NRLC official’s article

Barack Obama’s sweeping agenda for pro-abortion policy changes examined by NRLC’s Douglas Johnson in National Review Online

WASHINGTON — The Obama campaign and its allies have adopted an extensive “messaging strategy” that seeks to persuade religiously committed Americans that Obama has a middle-of-the-road position on abortion policy and will promote “abortion reduction.”

 Douglas Johnson, longtime legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and author of an article published today on National Review Online, titled “Unholy Messaging,” calls the Obama effort “a brazen scam.”

 ”The scam depends on the Obama campaign, with cooperation from the mainstream news media, deflecting attention away from Obama’s actual record, and from his extensive commitments to pro-abortion interest groups,” Johnson said.  “Barack Obama is firmly committed to an agenda of sweeping pro-abortion policy changes that, if implemented, will surely greatly increase the number of abortions performed.”

 Johnson noted that a few short months ago, during his primary contest, Obama and his advocates were boasting about his record of leadership in opposition to legislation to ban partial-birth abortions, to protect infants born alive during abortions, and to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions, among other pro-life bills.  “Those boasts were well-founded, and the current effort to re-package Obama as a moderate is a brazen scam,” Johnson said.

 The Obama “messaging” campaign includes a recently launched “Faith, Family & Values Tour” that will visit Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wisconsin.  In addition, various independent groups are disseminating advertising and literature that advances the same strategy.

 Among the specific Obama positions documented in Johnson’s article (which contains extensive hyperlinks to documentation):

 – Obama is a cosponsor of the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA, S. 1173), which Johnson calls ”the most sweeping piece of pro-abortion legislation ever proposed in Congress.”  The FOCA is a bill that would make partial-birth abortion legal again, strike down restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion, and nullify virtually every state and federal law or policy that would in any way “interfere with” access to abortion, including parental notification laws.  In a letter sent to every member of Congress by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on September 19, Cardinal Justin Rigali wrote, “No one who sponsors or supports legislation like FOCA can credibly claim to be part of a good-faith discussion on how to reduce abortions.”  In a speech to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund on July 17, 2007, Obama said, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.  That’s the first thing that I’d do.”
 
– Obama advocates the nullification of state laws requiring parental notification or consent for a minor daughter’s abortion, which would be one of the effects of the FOCA.  Moreover, since entering the U.S. Senate, Obama has had two opportunities to vote directly on the question of parental notification for interstate abortions on minors, and he voted ”no” on both occasions.   

 – Obama advocates repeal of the Hyde Amendment, the law that since 1976 has blocked almost all federal funding of abortion, even though both pro-life and pro-abortion analysts agree that this law has prevented many abortions.  By even the most conservative estimate, there are more than one million Americans alive today because of the Hyde Amendment.   “Because the Hyde Amendment must be renewed annually, a new president hostile to the Hyde Amendment could quickly place it in jeopardy,” Johnson observed.  The FOCA would also nullify all state laws restricting state funding of elective abortion.

– In a written response to a pro-abortion advocacy group, the Obama campaign said that Obama is opposed to continuing current federal funding for “crisis pregnancy centers,” which provide needed assistance to many thousands of pregnant women.

– NRLC has thoroughly documented that in the Illinois state Senate, Obama led the opposition to legislation to protect babies who are born alive during abortions, and persisted in his opposition even after Congress had enacted a virtually identical federal bill without a single dissenting vote.  Obama has in numerous ways actively misrepresented the content of this legislation, and his actions on it, but even when such misrepresentations were proved by NRLC and others, the major media simply let Obama abandon them and fall back to a different set of equally misleading claims.

 In his article, Johnson criticizes recent coverage in the ”mainstream news media,” which, he writes, “have, with few exceptions, been very compliant with Obama’s recent efforts to downplay his hard-line pro-abortion history and policy commitments, for the purpose of winning the general election.”  Typically, journalists simply describe Obama’s position as “supports abortion rights,” without giving details regarding his advocacy of federal funding of abortion, invalidation of parental notification laws, and the rest. 

 NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson and other NRLC staff persons are available for interviews on the subject of the Obama agenda on abortion, including radio debates with advocates for Barack Obama.  To arrange an interview, please call the Federal Legislative Office at (202) 626-8820 or the Department of Media Relations at (202) 626-8825.

 Mr. Johnson’s article has been cross-posted on the NRLC website under the title “Efforts to Sell Obama to Pro-Life Americans Collide With His Support for Sweeping Pro-abortion Policy Changes.”

 The National Right to Life Committee is the nation’s largest pro-life group with affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide.  National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect those threatened by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and assisted suicide.

 # # #

The Obama Faith Tour?

The Obama campaign has announced that, beginning the week of September 22, a team of Obama surrogates (including Pepperdine University law school Prof. Douglas Kmiec, evangelical author Donald Miller, and former Congressman Tim Roemer of Indiana) will travel from state to state on a “Faith, Family and Values Tour,” seeking the votes of religiously committed Americans for the Obama-Biden ticket. 

 

    According to one report on BeliefNet, the surrogates will be “doing grass-roots organizing for Obama in community centers (neutral sites –no houses of worship) and homes. The Tour will continue for weeks in most of the key battleground states.”  Another article, on ChristianityToday.com, said that the states to be visited by the tour during the next month include Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

 

    The Obama surrogates assigned to this tour no doubt will try to persuade people of faith that Obama would “reduce abortions.” It is important to understand that Obama’s recently adopted ”abortion reduction” spiel is just a public relations product cooked up at liberal think tanks like Third Way, where veteran pro-abortion activists specialize in developing strategies to help hard-core pro-abortion politicians camouflage their positions.

 

    The real Obama is firmly committed to an agenda of hard-line pro-abortion policies that, if implemented, would greatly increase the numbers of abortions performed.

 

    For example, by conservative estimate, there are more than one million Americans alive today because of the Hyde Amendment, which cut off federal funding for abortion starting in 1976.  Even the Alan Guttmacher Institute (linked to Planned Parenthood) and NARAL admit that the Hyde Amendment (and the similar policies adopted by many states) have resulted in many babies being born who otherwise would have been aborted (the pro-abortion groups have put out papers complaining about this).  So, the Hyde Amendment is a proven “abortion reduction” policy, big time.  Obama, of course, advocates repeal of the Hyde Amendment — and he also wants to enact a mandatory national health insurance program that would also mandate coverage of abortion on demand.

 

    Moreover, pro-life state laws — for example, women’s right to know laws, waiting periods, and parental notification laws — are saving countless lives, but Obama is a cosponsor of the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act,” which would invalidate every one of these laws.   On July 17, 2007, Obama told the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.  That’s the first thing that I’d do.”

 

    Obama even advocates repeal of the national ban on partial-birth abortions (which the FOCA would also accomplish).  And, as documented thoroughly by NRLC, while a member of the Illinois state Senate, Obama led the opposition to legislation to provide protection and care for babies who are born alive during abortions.

 

    I have faith that most “people of faith” are not so easily snookered.

 

Douglas Johnson
NRLC Legislative Director
Legfederal@aol.com

Obama hit on born-alive claims by NRLC, McCain, Factcheck

Our Fed Leg Department just updated our White Paper on Barack Obama and the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act.  Here’s from their release today at noon:

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) today issued an expanded “white paper” regarding the growing controversy regarding the record of Barack Obama on the right to life of babies who are born alive during abortions.

 

The new document comes 17 days after NRLC’s release, on August 11, of newly uncovered documents that demonstrated that Obama had been mispresenting his record on the issue since 2004.  On August 16, when  asked specifically about the NRLC charges during a televised interview with CBN’s David Brody, Obama responded that “they have not been telling the truth” and “folks are lying.”  But in a report issued August 25, the independent organization FactCheck.org concluded:  “Obama’s claim is wrong. . . . The documents from the NRLC support the group’s claims that Obama is misrepresenting the contents of SB 1082.” 

 

The new NRLC document is titled, “Barack Obama’s Actions and Shifting Claims on the Protection of Born-Alive Aborted Infants — and What They Tell Us About His Thinking on Abortion.”  It is authored by NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson and Legislative Counsel Susan T. Muskett.  The white paper (with links to pertinent documents) may be viewed in a web browser here, or downloaded in the PDF format here. 

The new white paper is a must-read for every pro-lifer.

-Derrick

It’s official

None of us are in Denver this week for the Democratic convention (for obvious reasons), but I’ve been glued to C-SPAN watching all of the coverage live (really I’m just waiting for the balloons and confetti..it’s fun television).

The Democratic Party has just officially nominated pro-abortion Illinois Senator Barack Obama as their nominee for President of the United States.   Obama is perhaps the most pro-abortion candidate ever nominated for President.

The folks in our Fed Leg Department has done a tremendous job of documenting Obama’s record on the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act in Illinois.  Check it out: http://www.nrlc.org/ObamaBAIPA/Obamacoveruponbornalive.htm

And we’ve also put together a great comparison piece that factually outlines the positions of both Barack Obama and John McCain.  You can download it in PDF here: http://www.nrlc.org/Election2008/Comparison071408.pdf

-Derrick Jones
NRLC Communications Director