The Obama Payoffs He Can Make Unilaterally

The latest from NRLC’s speedy wordsmith – NRL News editor Dave Andrusko.  To read more of his daily feature, “Today’s News and Views,” check out http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/index.html

Tomorrow we’ll talk about some interesting after-the-fact and therefore meaningless concessions by the Washington Post’s Ombudsman to the effect that, okay, the Post WAS in the tank for pro-abortion President-elect Barack Obama. Today is a look at Step One in the payoff that the Abortion Establishment will receive for its active role on behalf of then-candidate Obama which will take the form of reversing administrative actions taken by pro-life President George Bush.

It’s at moments like this that we are reminded how much difference it makes when the White House is occupied by a man whose goal is to reduce the number of babies lost to abortion, not one motivated by a desire to increase the death toll. Besides Howell’s column, the Post also ran another article in yesterday’s edition that began this way:

“Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

“A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

“In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.”

As you know in August 2001 President Bush thwarted the pell-mell rush to federally underwrite a wholesale campaign of research based on culling stem cells from human embryos. In the subsequent seven years, a whole raft of more promising and ethically acceptable alternatives has arisen, which ought to–but won’t–give pause to the proponents of embryonic stem cell research.

As the Post wrote Sunday, “Obama himself has signaled, for example, that he intends to reverse Bush’s controversial limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a decision that scientists say has restrained research into some of the most promising avenues for defeating a wide array of diseases, such as Parkinson’s.” The latter comment is entirely bogus, but it is the template into which almost all of the “mainstream media” forces all discussion of stem cell research.

The other item of direct interest to us mentioned in the Post is the Mexico City Policy, which the anti-life lobby has dubbed the “global gag rule.” This will be the fourth go-round on regulations first adopted by President Reagan, rescinded by President Clinton, and re-established by President George Bush. The executive order denies certain types of U.S. government assistance to private organizations that promote abortion as a method of family planning in foreign countries.

Pro-lifers were able to maintain policies such as the Mexico City Policy because of President Bush’s vow to veto any bill that contained language that would weaken an existing pro-life policy. With a pro-abortion militant about to enter the White House, pro-lifers will lack that backstop.

We will keep you updated on pro-abortion initiatives rumored to be in the works. Not pleasant work, but a necessary reminder of the price unborn babies will pay for the election of man for whom multiplying the number of abortions is paramount.

Please send your thoughts and observations to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

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.

 # # #

Faith Based Obama Merchandise Suggestions

According to press reports, a few days ago a man named Paul Monteiro, who has the title “Deputy Director of Religious Affairs” for the Obama campaign, sent out an e-mail to various lists that began, “Dear friends — Great news! We now have faith merchandise available for you to show your support for Barack Obama as a person of faith.  Check out the Believers for Barack, Pro-Family Pro-Obama, and Catholics for Obama buttons, bumper stickers and signs. . . . We’ll soon be rolling out merchandise for other religious groups and denominations . . .”

 

NRLC’s Legislative Director Douglas Johnson says he thinks that the Obama campaign is on to something there.  Johnson wrote, “To really get the word out regarding the Obama record and agenda to the faith communities, they really need a broader range of bumper stickers.  Here are my suggestions:

 

Another Believer for Barack
and Partial-Birth Abortion

 

Catholics Who Want Barack
and the Freedom of Choice Act

 

Tax-Funded Abortion
We Can Believe In:
Obama 2008

 

Re-legalize Partial-Birth Abortion –
Obama-Biden in 2008

 

Another Born-Again Believer
Against Born-Alive Infants Protection

 

Faith. Hope. Change.
Partial-birth abortion.
Obama 2008

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

The Platforms

Here’s the Republican platform language on life as approved by the Platform Committee today:

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.  We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.  We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it.  We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

 

We have made progress.  The Supreme Court has upheld prohibitions against the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion.  States are now permitted to extend health-care coverage to children before birth.  And the Born Alive Infants Protection Act has become law; this law ensures that infants who are born alive during an abortion receive all treatment and care that is provided to all newborn infants and are not neglected and left to die.  We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement.  We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy.  At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life.  Women deserve better than abortion.  Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life.  We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives. 

 

Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation.  In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society….

Here’s the Democratic platform language:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

 Gone are the Democratic Party’s desire to keeping abortion “rare.”