Religion & Law

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous has put together a list of reasons why an Obama administration will increase the number of abortions.  I do not vouch for the legitimacy of every assertion (e.g., I do not believe that we should conclude much from Obama's comment about his daughters being "punished" with a child), but I pass the information along nevertheless:

Many (most notably Doug Kmiec) have made the public argument that Obama would, if elected, reduce the incidence of abortion in America.  This is false.  His record and agenda show that his election would certainly lead to the further entrenchment of right to kill unborn children in constitutional law, an increase in the number of abortions, and a massive increase in the number of embryonic human beings killed for research (to the tune of millions).  Some facts:

On abortion:
1.  He favors the "Freedom of Choice Act" which will sweep away all limits on abortion, state and federal, including   restrictions on government funding of abortion and conscience protections  for healthcare providers. ( http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/obama_statement_on_35th_annive.php ).
2.  Condemned Supreme Court's decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, which affirmed federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban. ( http://www.nrlc.org/news/2007/NRL08/PresidentColumnPage3.html)
3.  Supports federal funding of abortion ( http://www.democrats.org/a/party/platform.html at 50)
4.  Opposes the Hyde Amendment, which restricts use of taxpayer dollars for supporting abortion ( http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/12/21/sen-barack-obamas-reproductive-health-questionnaire )
5.  Opposed born alive infant protection bill in IL Gen Assembly ( http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_and_infanticide.html )
6.  Believes that pregnancy is "punishment" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbZJYWjkAPo)
7.  Believes that the right to abortion is a matter of equal rights for women.  ( http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/obama_statement_on_35th_annive.php )
8.  Wants to strip crisis pregnancy centers of federal funding ( http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/12/21/sen-barack-obamas-reproductive-health-questionnaire )
9.  Does NOT support Pregnant Woman Support Act (i.e., Dems for Life signature 95-10 proposed legislation meant to reduce abortions by strengthening social safety net -- note that neither Pelosi nor Reid (nor any of the relevant committee chairs) have allowed this bill to come to the floor for a vote).  In fact, Obama opposed inclusion of unborn children for S-CHIP protection (key feature of the bill).

In short, sweeping away all limits on abortion (by operation of FOCA) and federally funding it with taxpayer dollars (while defunding non-abortion providing crisis pregnancy centers) will INCREASE rather than decrease the abortions in this country.

On embryo destructive research:  unapologetically supports increase in this practice
1. Was an original sponsor of the bill to overturn President Bush?s funding policy ( http://obama.senate.gov/press/070411-obama_renews_su/).
2.  Was a co-sponsor of the misleadingly named ?Human Cloning Ban Act of 2005,? which, if passed, would have protected cloning-for-biomedical research, and would have required the destruction of all human embryos created by cloning, on pain of federal criminal law ( http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1520:).
3.  As a member of the Illinois General Assemby, he voted against a ban on all forms of human cloning ( http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/srollcalls92/920SB0493_03292001_041000T.PDF ). 
4.  Most shocking, he voted against a bill in the United States Senate that would have authorized increased funding for recently developed forms of stem cell research that do not require the use and destruction of human embryos, despite the fact that such research has captured the imagination of the scientific community both for its efficacy and moral neutrality, and despite the fact that the bill in no way precluded funding for embryo destructive research ( http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00128 ).