Barack Obama has been straightforward about his position on third-term abortion from the start: from where he's sitting, strong restrictions on late-term abortions are permissible, so long as exceptions for the health of the mother are included. So when he told Relevant magazine (a spiritual publication) that he did not believe mental distress was a convincing reason to terminate pregnancy in the third term, it shouldn't have come as a shock.
What's becoming a recurrent question, however, is whether or not Obama- as the leading figurehead of the Democratic Party- is trying to take the DNC in a new direction with regard to its policy.
Back in 1992, Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey (father of the current Democratic Senator, Bob Casey, Jr.) warned the DNC platform committee that is was committing "suicide" by not supporting some form of restriction on abortions. Since then, Democrats have waged an all-or-nothing battle, fearing that any step in the direction of abortion restriction might set into motion the events that would end the right choice altogether.
But it appears that Obama is trying to strike a balance, supporting the right of the woman to choose in addition to the right of the state to intervene at the latest stages of development. His position jibes well with the Court's decision in Roe v. Wade.
Despite Obama's 100% approval rating from the pro-choice group NARAL, Obama is showing some signs that he may tend toward some form of compromise in the near future. His Catholic advisory committee is chaired by the younger Casey, a staunch pro-life advocate, and features a number of other Democrats- like Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota- whose pro-life credentials rival that of any in Congress.
Nationally recognized evangelical writer and speaker Rev. James Wallis, a close friend and advisor to the Illinois Senator, told ABC News last week that he was going to push Obama to make abortion reduction a central platform of the DNC should he win in November. And support from within the party- including Rev. Tony Campolo, who sits on the DNC's platform committee- appears to be growing.
"Taking abortion seriously as a moral issue would help Democrats a great deal with a constituency that is already leaning in their direction on poverty and the environment," Wallis said. "There are literally millions of votes at stake."
But a departure from a to z support of abortion rights isn't necessarily a win-win situation for Obama. For the National Organization of Women, his intermediate stance on the issue was a major factor in their endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. In fact, they prepared and distributed pamphlets and flyers highlighting it.
Nonetheless, Obama remains committed to women's choice, favoring the passage of legislation that would provide public funding for abortions, like the Freedom of Choice Act. But his eyeing of a new provision to the traditional Democratic platform could pay off handsomely or hurt tremendously, depending on how the public reacts to his decision to search for middle ground.
Read jwilkes’s Last Article: The Obama Administration: The Top Potential Cabinet Appointees (Part II)
