Obama's Abortion Position
President Obama could not be mated with a woman such as his well-educated, confident, professionally successful wife and not have been exposed to female-empowerment which insists on the right of a woman to determine whether she will carry a pregnancy to term. Aside from which the man is attuned to the needs of underprivileged women, whether living in his country or in parts of the world where American foreign-aid is supportive of the needs of women, making it imperative that he recognize that unwanted pregnancies benefit no one.Appearing at the prestigious American Catholic University of Notre Dame, President Obama's stance on the abortion issue - no secret to anyone in the United States, since he expressed his firm views on abortion during his election campaign - has infuriated American Catholics. A resolutely condemnatory protest has issued from American bishops who have taken grave issue with the university for insisting it would award an honorary doctorate of laws to the president in recognition of his momentous election victory.
A protest petition of over 300,000 signatures of Catholics incensed against the university for stifling its own religious position with respect to abortion-as-murder was unable to compel the university president to stand down from his determination to give full honours to the new president, nor was the public criticism of some 70 American bishops. Barak Obama, president of the United States still walks on water. Irrespective of his second-guessing on some campaign issues, he enjoys a position of sheer adulation from a nice majority.
The Catholic Church stands by its position that the right to life represents a universal human right that abortion rights defile. President Obama goes beyond a tentative abortion-rights position that many supporters hold with rigidly defined lines in the sand. He not only insists that the right to abortion is a human right, in direct opposition to the stance of the Church, but he favours lifting all restrictions, inclusive of the period of gestation; that a full-term foetus can still legally be aborted.
He is actively against 'born-alive' laws; in favour of denying medical care for babies who somehow survive late-term abortions. And he has extended American foreign-aid dollars to funding abortions abroad, overturning his predecessors' withholding of aid to family planning centres in under-developed countries of the world which also counsel for abortion. A position originally taken by President Ronald Reagan, consigning poor women in third-world countries to an additional misery of unwanted children they can not care for.
Father John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president stoutly asserts it is President Obama's position as the first black president of the United States - without a doubt a singular achievement both for the president and for the country - that is being honoured. Both presidents appear to be a tad out of tune with the sentiments of what now appears to be a majority of Americans, given the results of the latest poll on the issue of abortion rights.
A new Gallup poll conducted May 7 - 10 came up with new figures: 51% of Americans claim to be pro-life, interpreted as opposition to abortion under any circumstances, a change in majority opinion since 1995. A mere year earlier 44% of Americans claimed to be pro-choice. Now, in this new poll 42% of American respondents claim to be pro-choice, down from 50% on 2008.
Labels: Health, Human Relations, Religion, United States
posted by Pieface @ Monday, May 18, 2009
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