Who can forget Barack Obama’s answer to Pastor Rick Warren when Warren asked him, “At what point does a baby get human rights?” Many were shocked when Obama said that “answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.”
Well, apparently Obama didn’t exactly come clean in the Warren interview because he had expounded on that issue at some length in the past. If you were shocked by his answer to Pastor Warren, you better be sitting down when you read this!
In 2001 and 2002, when Obama vehemently opposed Illinois legislation that would provide medical care to babies who accidently survived an abortion, he spoke on the Illinois Senate floor to give his “rationale” for his opposition. Here’s what he said in 2001:
“Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a - a child, a nine-month-old-child that was delivered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. I mean - it would essentially bar abortion, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an antibortion statute.”
In other words, even if a living, breathing baby survives an abortion and is completely delivered from the mother and if there is any question regarding whether the baby will survive, the abortion is not complete until the baby dies.
Many babies in a non-abortion context are prematurely born. On a personal note, one of my own sons was born two and one-half months early and required intensive medical care. Had it not been for the exceptional care he received, he could have died. Barack Obama, are you telling me that my son - now a brilliant college professor, husband and father - did not have rights as a human being because he was born early and his survival was in question?
Oh wait, I forgot. My son was a “wanted” child and the babies Obama is talking about about are not. Being wanted - as opposed to not being wanted - that, my friends, is the line in the sand that Barack Obama has drawn to determine which lives are worthy of living in this world.
Both of the presidential candidates and both of the vice-presidential candidates have now weighed in on when they believe human life begins. Their responses are a world apart for what is now an indisputable scientific fact — that each human life begins at fertilization (conception).
Starting with Obama, he said the answer to that question was “above his pay grade.” Yet, as Dr. Morton Throckmorton has so astutely observed, Obama did answer the question when he voted and spoke against legislation as an Illinois State Senator that would have provided treatment for babies who survive late-term abortion attempts. Obama argued then that a baby who survives an abortion is “previable” and not deserving of lifesaving measures.
McCain was straightforward in response to the question, stating “at the moment of conception.”
Biden resorted to turning the question into a theological one, stating he knew when human life began for him but he wouldn’t impose his views on others.
Late last week, Palin got her turn in response to a question about abortion from reporter Charlie Gibson. Because Palin stated she opposes legal abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger, her answer is obvious — that life begins at fertilization.
For those who think the question is irrelevant, let’s put the Obama and Biden responses into a different context.
For Obama, answering a question about assisted suicide and euthanasia could be above his pay grade, meaning that vulnerable people at the end of the life spectrum and those with disabilities could be denied human rights.
For Biden, those at risk from assisted suicide and euthanasia would be ones he might protect, but he doesn’t want to impose his views on others.
Sound far-fetched? The Obama and Biden responses are already part of the public debate on end of life issues. Their views on protecting human life should be considered with great trepidation.
Joe, Joe — after the public chastising Nancy Pelosi is taking from the Catholic bishops, did you have to open your mouth and follow her over the cliff?
Reporter Tom Brokaw gave Biden his shot at answering the simple question of when human life begins. Trying to be clever and avoid Pelosi’s venture into wonderland when she said Catholic Church teaching is inconsistent on the issue, Biden said: “Look, I know when it begins for me. It’s a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I am prepared to accept the teachings of my church.” Biden then voiced the all- too-familiar, nauseating line that he couldn’t impose his religious views on others.
First, taking his statement literally, it sounds as though he only knows when his own life began. Kinda funny. Second, he falls into the Pelosi pit, by answering a scientific question with his version of a religious answer. In the talking points employed by pro-abortion Catholics, they think this is the way to fudge the issue. If I turn this into a theological discussion, they reason, then I can roam freely into the philosophy of different religions and fool people into thinking there is no real answer so we can’t impose our views on others.
Bravo, bravo to the Catholic bishops who are not letting Biden and his crowd get away with it!!! Biden drew an immediate response from Cardinal Justin Rigali and Bishop William Lori who declared Biden contradicted church teaching by turning the question into a “personal and private” matter. Regarding the scientific fact that human life begins at conception, the bishops said the Church “does not teach this as a matter of faith; it acknowledges it as a matter of objective fact…..Protection of innocent human life is not an imposition of personal religious conviction but a demand of justice.”
A Rush Limbaugh caller related his recent heartwarming encounter with the McCain and Palin families. The McCain campaign bus pulled into Washington, Pennsylvania where Kurt (the caller) and his family waited for a glimpse of the famous duo. Kurt and his wife have a five-year-old daughter, Chloe, with Down syndrome and held a sign saying “We Love Kids with Down Syndrome.”
The McCain and Palin families saw the sign and gave a thumbs up. The Secret Service approached Kurt and his family and brought them to the campaign bus where they met the candidates and took lots of photos. I don’t know what touched me more — the photo of Sarah Palin holding little Chloe or Cindy McCain holding her hand over her heart.
To read the complete interview transcript with photos, please click here.
Contrast this incredibly beautiful human story with the continued hate which permeates our airwaves and the Internet. The South Carolina Dem leader who said Palin’s apparent only qualification for office is that she didn’t have an abortion. The Canadian OB-GYN who now worries that abortions will go down since Palin didn’t abort her baby. The posting on eBay to bid on a “prop” Palin kid with Down syndrome. Biden chiding Palin for not caring about her son because she opposes embryonic stem cell research. The rumor that Trig is really the child of Bristol Palin.
It is both our finest and worst hours as Americans. The presence and images of Trig Palin in the American consciousness gives newfound admiration for people with disabilities and the families who raise them. The ugly rhetoric illuminates anew the blatant discrimination against infants with disabilities and the audacity of parents who don’t abort them.
Thanks to Dave Andrusko from National Right to Life who posted a quote from Dem VP nominee Joe Biden after Gov. Sarah Palin’s magnificent acceptance speech last week. Here is the exchange between reporter Tom Brokaw and Biden:
Brokaw: Who was the first person you called after the speech? Biden: After my speech? Brokaw: After her speech. Biden: I didn’t call anybody. I didn’t–I happened to be–I didn’t get her–I didn’t see her speech, I saw part of it. I–we were, we were flying to–from Florida to Virginia, and I caught the tail end of it. And–oh, I guess I–actually, I called my wife. I called my wife.
Unglued, for sure. I would love to see the phone records. And, here’s the sequel. Traditionally, the VP nominee is supposed to be the person who attacks the opposing presidential nominee — in this case, that would be McCain. Instead, Biden is using precious interview time to attack Palin instead! And, he is blowing it.
When asked by a reporter if Palin wins, would it be a step forward for women, Biden responded “I assume she thinks and agrees with the same [pro-life] policies that George Bush and John McCain think…And that’s obviously a backward step for women.”
He further compounded his Palin problem by using her Down syndrome son to belittle her position against embryonic stem cell research. In Biden logic, if you care about people with disabilities, you have to support the destruction of embryos to help them. Didn’t Obama say the candidates’ children are off limits? Perhaps Biden forgot to read the talking points.
In Biden-land, Palin is neither a good woman nor a good mom simply because she doesn’t fit his mold of what that is. How insulting, condescending and demeaning!
The October 2 VP debate is likely to generate as much as, if not more than, the presidential debates. Let me know if you are salivating the promise of Palin putting Biden in his place.
When asked on a recent “Meet the Press” interview when human life begins, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reached into outer space and floated her version of Catholic teaching which is that only recently did the Church conclude that life begins at conception. She claimed the Church did not have longstanding policies on abortion and the beginning of human life and intimated that this “evolution” of Catholic teaching made it acceptable for Catholics to come to their own conclusions. Wow, where has she been for the past 40 years, but I digress already having hinted that it is outer space.
Note that Pelosi was not asked a theological question but a scientific one. As even Obama is now doing on the subject of when human life begins, when caught with a direct question to which there is a direct answer, conjure up some theological, non-sensical — even untrue — rhetoric to obscure the obvious.
Bravo to numerous bishops who climbed all over her, including our own Wisconsin bishop, Jerome Listecki. In a news release, Listecki said: “To say that there is ambiguity about when human life begins is utterly and completely false, and any Catholic (which Speaker Pelosi professes to be) who tries to interpret Church teaching in such a manner gives scandal and misleads the faithful.”
Pelosi went one step further in defending her non-position by claiming that in San Francisco, where she lives, Church teaching is different. Really. San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer has reiterated the statements of ten U.S. bishops who have taken Pelosi to task and invited her to a personal meeting. Pelosi responded that she would “welcome the opportunity for our personal conversation and to go beyond our earlier most cordial exchange about immigration and needs of the poor to Church teaching on other significant matters.”
Trying to change the subject on the Archbishop? I don’t think so. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think of Pelosi Politics.
It is the most dreaded month prior to a national election. Who will pull the October surprise and will it be successful? In 2006, it was the Democrats and it worked well for them.
Has McCain pulled the surprise a little early with his selection of Palin? Only someone on another planet would not know about Sarah Palin by now. It is as though the media played right into McCain’s hands. With their below-the-belt criticism and genuine inquisitive nature, they have lifted Palin — and, thus, McCain — to the top of the charts. EVERYONE wants to know EVERYTHING about her.
Who would have guessed that the McCain acceptance speech would exceed Obama’s intimate gathering of 84,000? There isn’t a single pundit who would have even ventured such a prediction.
Palin has aptly and astutely handled the question of whether she can withstand the scrutiny. The major unknown is whether the Palin love affair with the American public will last until November 4. And, that is when we will know if the October surprise came a little bit too early.
John McCain has come a long way into the hearts and minds of voters. He solidified his hold last night with a great acceptance speech. The McCain/Palin ticket will now be everywhere, thrilling the masses (that would be all of us) wherever they go, starting today in Wisconsin.
But, Obama has not been idle. He is airing radio ads in battleground states, including Wisconsin, which attack McCain’s right-to-life position on abortion. There are some inaccuracies in the ad and this blog could be filled with a lengthy rebuttal. But, it misses the point.
If the McCain campaign is smart, it absolutely should not play defense but use the opportunity to counter and skewer by informing the public about Obama’s incredibly radical abortion and infanticide positions and votes. McCain has done it brilliantly on the stump, and now needs to do it in ads.
Obama clearly timed his attack to correspond with the pick of a right-to-life woman by McCain. Obama’s campaign fears that the highly-desired Hil voters will now go to the McCain ticket and mistakenly believes that women will flock to him because of “choice.” Here’s some big news for Obama. Women are more solidly right-to-life than men. And less than 10% of the public believes that abortion should be legal for all nine months of pregnancy, for any reason, as many times as a woman wants one — a position to which Obama stubbornly clings.
That’s why it is so important for McCain to counter. Some may remember when Assembly Speaker Tom Loftus decided to run against incumbent Governor Tommy Thompson back in the 1990s. Loftus boasted that he was going to whip Thompson using abortion as his wedge issue. Very early in the campaign, Thompson released a fabulous tv ad — I can still see it in my mind to this day. Thompson talked directly into the camera, told the people what his position was on abortion and why he was right-to-life. Loftus quickly dropped what he thought was going to be his most important hammer. End of issue, end of story. Thompson was Governor for 14 years.
Obama has given the McCain people ample material with his radical positions, his incredibly callous votes, and his rhetoric. They would be very, very wise to use it.
Nervousness turned to elation after Gov. Sarah Palin’s knockout speech last night. From our viewpoint, we could be disappointed that she didn’t address right-to-life issues. She didn’t have to — the images of her beautiful family told the whole story.
Trig Palin is fittingly the most famous baby in the country. His mere angelic presence speaks volumes about his mom and dad and sibs who obviously adore him. Loved the news coverage that showed Trig being passed around. John and Cindy McCain looked absolutely radiant as each held him and peered into his beautiful face.
In many ways, the Palins are us. And so are the McCains. The Palins have two supposedly “unwanted” babies in their family. The McCains have a daughter they rescued from a Bangladesh orphanage and adopted. In the end, it is not talk. It is how we live our lives and the example we set.
Palin has brilliantly started the sprint, trounced the critics, and set the stage. McCain needs to soar tonight and lead the American public to the finish line. But, it is also up to us to promote a right-to-life team as vigorously as possible so that on November 5, a new day will dawn that holds hope and promise for everyone, including the unborn.
In full panic mode, there isn’t a remote semblance of finesse or subtlety in the media attack on Sarah Palin. It is a vicious and direct assault using a meat-axe. If you give any credence to the shambles of what constitutes the media these days, Palin arrived from a foreign planet and brought with her an alien baby and a street-operating teenage daughter.
Some media outlets are even asking for DNA samples of Palin’s four-month-old baby to try to prove that little Trig is her daughter’s baby. So, let’s get this straight. Trig is four months old and daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant. These people need a crash math course and some basic sex education.
I admire Sarah Palin even more. I wholeheartedly believe the American people are not stupid and will see this over-the-top smear of a remarkable woman for what it is — an attempt to undercut the McCain/Palin ticket so that Obama is elected.
My prediction — Palin will knock it out of the park tonight with her acceptance speech. Not with the media, of course, who will parse her every word, but with those who count most — the American voters. Go get ‘em, Sarah!
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