Factcheck on Obama abortion nonsense

[rinsd]

Anti-abortion activists accuse Obama of "supporting infanticide," and the National Right to Life Committee says he's conducted a "four-year effort to cover up his full role in killing legislation to protect born-alive survivors of abortions." Obama says they're "lying."

At issue is Obama's opposition to Illinois legislation in 2001, 2002 and 2003 that would have defined any aborted fetus that showed signs of life as a "born alive infant" entitled to legal protection, even if doctors believe it could not survive.

Obama opposed the 2001 and 2002 "born alive" bills as backdoor attacks on a woman's legal right to abortion, but he says he would have been "fully in support" of a similar federal bill that President Bush had signed in 2002, because it contained protections for Roe v. Wade.

We find that, as the NRLC said in a recent statement, Obama voted in committee against the 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal act he says he would have supported. Both contained identical clauses saying that nothing in the bills could be construed to affect legal rights of an unborn fetus, according to an undisputed summary written immediately after the committee's 2003 mark-up session.

Whether opposing "born alive" legislation is the same as supporting "infanticide," however, is entirely a matter of interpretation. That could be true only for those, such as Obama's 2004 Republican opponent, Alan Keyes, who believe a fetus that doctors give no chance of surviving is an "infant." It is worth noting that Illinois law already provided that physicians must protect the life of a fetus when there is "a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb, with or without artificial support."

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obama_and_infanticide.html

[FrenchieCat]

1. Asshole Republicans willing to say anything, while they are perfectly pleased

to drop bombs on pregnant and non pregnant women over in Iraq. Babies, kids, teenagers, men, boys....makes not difference to them then.

[Hansel]

4. Amen. Clearly the "pro-lifers" are for infanticide.

Someone made this argument on CSPAN and a Republican woman actually called in and in complete disdain said "I can't believe those liberals would equate killing innocent babies with killing terrorists."

Yes indeedy sweety. Bombs only kill terrorists and no one else. How can you argue with someone who is that ignorant?

[Triana]

2. He said he voted against those bills because they messed with Roe v Wade and...

...not because he believed born-alive fetuses don't deserve protection. He obviously felt women's right to choose deserved protection more than a fetus that doctors give little or no chance of survival.

Obama was right in not supporting those bills, therefore, IMO.

[mzmolly]

3. K and R

I just posted an article from the chicago trib on this issue as well.

[question everything]

5. Thanks for the summary

The RNC this evening did promote this claim so it is important for us to be able to respond to the ones who get their information from Rush and company.