Barack Obama, Pro-Life President?

The more or less consensus position of the Democratic Party over the past decade and a half has been that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare". IOW, the Democrats have consistently favored abortion reduction.
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But Obama rolls out policies (even imaginary being-based ones) that are wholly consistent with that Democratic consensus position and ll of a sudden he is a "Pro-Life President"?

Wow. I don't even know where to start with this post. But here's one big clue that Democrats - not just Obama - want to reduce abortions: SCHIP. Yes, wider availability of health insurance makes parenting more affordable which - surprise! - reduces economic pressures on pregnant women.
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This post illustrates the kind of unproductive politicization of the abortion issue that Obama is talking about. Of course Democrats want to reduce abortions! But reducing access to abortion isn't the only way to be "pro-life." (I'll accept for the sake of argument that forcing women to procure illegal abortions is pro-life) Reducing the problems pregnant women and parents face is also pro-life. Let's not forget that "safe, legal and rare" is a Democratic phrase.

Whats really funny is that this post was written by a person purporting to be a Democrat but she finds a Democrat wanting to reduce abortions some kind of a revelation. I won't even get into how many times President Obama talked about reducing the numbers of abortions while he was compaigning. But the truth is for any honest broker its the social conservatives who rail against cocntraceptives who really don't give a sh*t about women getting abortions in this country. But leave it to our resident lily white christocrat to instead make it looks as if this is some kind of news flash by Obama.
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EPIC PHUCKING FAIL

This post has got me worried. What's next? How far will BHO take this? Is he going to try to stop all baby killing? I'm very concerned for the Democratic Party.

Given the fact that Obama supports killing infants who have survived abortions and given the fact that while he was in the Illinois legislature Obama cast votes supporting the killing of infants who survived abortions, what is his preferred method of killing those infants? Decapitation or other forms of dismemberment? Firing squad? Lethal injection? Electrocution? Immolation? Blunt force trauma? Suffocation? Dehydration? Starvation? Or does he prefer that the abortionists stick a catheter into the skulls of those infants and kill those infants by sucking out the infants' brains a la partial birth abortion?

The Democrats also support family planning clinics ("condom factories," to the GOP). So my question is, why is the GOP pro-abortion?

and...abortion reduction.
Now that's interesting.
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Oh for hell's sake. You've already posted about this like three times.
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SPOILER ALERT:
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Obama's a Christian!

Amy Sullivan you haven't offered one worthy post since you started, so I'm no longer holding out hope you'll get any better. But gosh I kinda took it at a given that you wouldn't get any worse.

Dee in Columbia MD Says:
" .. Amy Sullivan you haven't offered one worthy post since you started.. "

Hey, buster, leave Amy alone!
[By the way, this contribution from you isn't anything to brag about, really!]

Reducing unwanted pregnancies (and hence reducing abortions) using all the tools of family planning is the pro-choice view, not the pro-life view.

I read Amy's post and hoped you all would set her straight so I wouldn't have to. Thank you all.
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And, for textee. pointing and laughing ha ha ha ha ha.

This post illustrates the kind of unproductive politicization of the abortion issue that Obama is talking about.
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uh, its not the media who is politicizing abortion here, its Obama. He's the one calling a reproductive planning initiative "abortion reduction". (and lets not call it "family planning"; we're not talking about whether to take the kids to the beach or to Disneyworld for vacation, we're talking about sex and reducing unintended pregancies.)
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And there is a danger in this, because the focus of reproductive planning cannot and should not be abortion reduction; reducing the number of abortions is just one of the inevitable by-product of a successful reproductive planning initiative.
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"abortion reduction" isn't about healthy babies and prepared parents, "abortion reduction" is a phrase that comes right out of the "life begins at conception, and ends at birth" handbook. And whether we like it or not, abortion remains an important aspect of family planning -- while we can reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancies with a reproductive planning initiative, we can't eliminate the need for abortion services, or the need for reproductive planning services to include abortion as an option for women who do not feel ready to be bear children.

WTF?
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Who is against abortion reduction? Oh, wait, I know, the people who preach abstinence only sex education.
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Where do you get this stuff? When did ANYBODY ever advocate more abortions? Everybody in the pro-choice community would prefer to see NO unwanted pregnancies, and NO women be forced to abort a pregnancy for health reasons.
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If the pro-life people really cared about reducing the rate of abortion, and not the state's control of women's reproductive choices, there'd be a condom in every bible, in every pew.

Right on, Jayackroyd.

Since Ms. Sullivan didn't offer a post with actual substance, how about talking about this post from Chris Bowers at Open Left?
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Last night, commenter NFR83 wrote:
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I just got laid off at ABC
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and my best friend works at CNBC.
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They don't want Democrats on air. We've been only booking Republicans because "everybody already knows where the Democrats stand"
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After all, what are the Democrats going to do? complain? It's the liberal media, right? I was in a meeting last week where our producer flat out said we needed to "bring Obama's approval ratings down"
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Everyone who got laid off this week was an Obama supporter.
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Surprised?

No defense for this Sullivan. You know perfectly well, as sq1 said, that "safe, legal, and rare" has been the Democratic stance since 1992.
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If you didn't believe it when Obama pledged this during the campaign that's your problem.
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"Pro-life" is the self-name of those who oppose choice. I'll let them name themselves that, of course, but you've no business imputing to Obama all that term implies.
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Guess I'll give myself a Lenten fast from your posts. I'll reconsider after Easter.

wvng...
citing as a source an anonymous blog comment by someone with no record of commenting on that blog (he created his account on Feb 4) isn't exactly credible.
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I suspect that one reason we are seeing more Republicans is that the Democrats don't have their act together -- nobody wants to step on Obama's toes, but nobody knows where Obama's feet are. And given that the media (and the GOP) seem intent upon maximizing any differences between Obama and the Congressional leadership, going on TV do define and/or defend the "Democratic" position is a thankless, and near-impossible, job.
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Add to that the evidence that Team Obama is hanging Pelosi out to dry (the reported encouragement of Blue Dogs who want a return to "regular order" was a particularly underhanded manoevre, considering the fact that Obama wants an "economic stimulus" package in weeks, and "regular order" means that bills take months to get moved to the floor) and its easy to see why booking prominent Democrats at this point would be difficult to begin with.
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plukasiak
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Maybe you hadn't noticed and of course it doesn't fit your narrative but Jim Cooper has already eaten those words about "quiet encouragement". Its always funny how somebody who normally you would never see as credible (blue dog Jim Cooper) in a factually challenged publication (Politico, or Time for that matter) all of a sudden becomes the paragon of integrity when they say something that you want to hear or want to believe. Seek help.

sgwhite...
The fact that Cooper had to "walk back" his assertion doesn't mean that he didn't make that assertion; what it tells you is that Team Obama's "quiet encouragement" was supposed to be quiet, and Cooper let the cat out of the bag.

I was going to point out how acting surprised that Democrats want to reduce the number of abortions is to not only embrace a Right Wing meme but a particularly nasty and yes, evil one at that. Does anyone honestly believe that there are people who actually like abortion? I see that a number of commenters hacve arleady noticed the problem.
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Instead I'll simply note that to turn a surprising repugnant post from Ms. Sullivan into an opportunity to blame Obama for co-opting his opponent's language (in order to effectively diffuse it) requires what can only be described as a knee-jerk reflexive action!

As a lifelong Democrat, let me just say that I grow faint at the idea that Obama might not be tirelessly working to increase the number of abortions in this country. Also, I choose to interpret Obama's decision as a signal that he doesn't care about preventative health care or family planning or women.
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Last time you wrote something like this, I pointed out that no Democrat anywhere in the history of planet Earth had ever said anything remotely like the straw men who live in your head. But hey, what's the point. You've got a good little schtick going, and nothing as stupid as facts is going to change what you write. I'll just give you this comment to justify your next column, or your entire career. You're welcome!

oh, btw, Cooper's "walk back" was a classic case of a non-denial denial.
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His statement was "Cooper walked back his comments Wednesday, saying that “at no point did any member of President Obama's staff encourage me to vote against the House economic recovery bill.”'
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What Cooper is saying here is that no one said "vote against the bill"...rather, Team Obama expressed no objection to Cooper's inquiries regarding his desire to vote against the bill, and did not encourage him to vote for the bill. That is the very definition of "quiet encouragement".

It's surprising ... because he was really a lying baby killer?

"It is time we end the politicization of this issue. In the coming weeks, my Administration will initiative a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world."
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What this means is, long overdue, he is going to use the issues of sex education, family planning and access to health services to expose the hypocrisy of the "pro-life" movement. There is no common ground. They're against programs that prevent unwanted pregnancy and access to services like prenatal care for poor women. The republicans demanded that money saving part of the stimulus package be removed. Now, of course, they'll have to vote against in a separate bill--which they won't be able to filibuster, if only because of Snowe and Collins.

It's surprising ... because he was really a lying baby killer?
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no, its "surprising" because Obama is adopting right-wing framing on the question of reproductive planning, while also backing himself into a corner on the question of making abortion services available to women who need them.