Lately there has been lot of talk about guns, gay marriage, the contitution, the death penalty and Us foreign policy regarding Iran.
Now, let's try abortion.
John McCain has clearly tried to pander the right wing "pro life" crowd (you know, no to abortion, yes to executions)
More afte the flip
Supports a Woman’s Right to Choose:
Barack Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him. However, he has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that case.
From his campaign website.
I was expecting to see some pandering from him on this issue, he has been moving towards the different religious groups.
Here is Obama now:
"Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother," Obama told Relevant Magazine. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions."
During the primaries, Obama was critical of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal ban on late-term abortions, saying that the court had disregarded "a woman's medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient."
Tpm says that Obama did say somethig different during the primary. This is from his website:
Today the Supreme Court upheld the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act." Here's Barack's response
I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women. As Justice Ginsburg emphasized in her dissenting opinion, this ruling signals an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a doctor and patient. I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.
Now, what is this Late-term abortion?
Here is Wikipedia:
A late-term abortion often refers to an induced abortion procedure that occurs after the 20th week of gestation. However, the exact point when a pregnancy becomes late-term is not clearly defined
And rampant this is? Well, statistically it really doesn't happen all that often:
In 1997, the Guttmacher Institute estimated the number of abortions in the U.S. past 24 weeks to be 0.08%, or approximately 1,032 per year
So, whydo this late-term abortion:
* 71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation
* 48% Woman found it hard to make arrangements for abortion
* 33% Woman was afraid to tell her partner or parents
* 24% Woman took time to decide to have an abortion
* 8% Woman waited for her relationship to change
* 8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion
* 6% Something changed after woman became pregnant
* 6% Woman didn't know timing is important
* 5% Woman didn't know she could get an abortion
* 2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy
* 11% Other
I have no words to describe this!
Mostly these late-term abortions happen because these is too little information, there is fear and it is difficult to get an abortion.
WTF??
Obama has this on his website:
Preventing Unwanted Pregnancy:
Barack Obama is an original co-sponsor of legislation to expand access to contraception, health information and preventive services to help reduce unintended pregnancies. Introduced in January 2007, the Prevention First Act will increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education that teaches both abstinence and safe sex methods. The Act will also end insurance discrimination against contraception, improve awareness about emergency contraception, and provide compassionate assistance to rape victims.
And the prevention is the best policy. To my knowledge women do not "want" abortions.
But why did Obama use say that he wants to limit these abortions? Men don't get pregnant, we shouldn't talk so much about what women can and cannot do with their bodies.
Edit:
I'm quite pleased, there has been rather good "debate" on the topic. Also very little trolling or "you are a fucking purist" posts. Nice. And this isn't so easy topic.