Obama Covers Up Pro-Abortion Record at Notre Dame, Heckled During Speech
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 17, 2009
South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) — After weeks of intense opposition and controversy surrounding President Barack Obama’s commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, Obama did what many observers expected him to do. He attempted to seek middle ground in the abortion debate and covered up his extensive pro-abortion record.
Obama’s speech began with another expected turn of events — hecklers.
As Obama began his graduation speech by thanking Notre Dame officials, a handful of pro-life advocates in the crowd stood up one by one and urged the president to reform his pro-abortion views.
Four people, including Joseph Landry and Andrew Beacham, shouted "abortion is murder" and "stop killing babies" before being escorted from the auditorium by security officials.
"We don’t do things the easy way," Obama responded off-script as the pro-life advocates were removed from the venue.
Once the president waded into the section of his speech reserved for abortion, Obama retreated to his pre-election rhetoric and sophistry by expressing a yen for a middle ground on abortion.
Obama related a story about how a Christian, pro-life doctor emailed him about a comment on his web site saying Obama would fight "right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose."
"The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable," Obama said.
The doctor wrote, "I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words."
Obama said "fair-minded words" were missing from the abortion debate and that while he "didn’t change my position" on abortion after hearing from the physician, he rededicated himself to finding "common ground" on abortion.
"So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions," Obama said, saying he wants to promote adoption, help for pregnant women and reducing unintended pregnancies.
But Benjamin Clapper, the director of Louisiana Right to Life, told LifeNews.com after the speech that Obama has not been dedicating to finding common ground or using "fair-minded words" since becoming president.
He said, "President Obama is saying one thing and doing another. By requiring the taxpayer funding of abortion overseas and embryonic stem cell research, President Obama’s actions are anything but ‘fair-minded’."
"In addition, it is expected that President Obama will include taxpayer funded abortions in his upcoming health care reform legislation. By forcing every American to fund abortion in health care, President Obama undermines any attempt to find common ground on the issue of abortion," Clapper added.
Clapper also pointed out that President Obama’s new federal budget calls for forcing Americans to pay for abortions using taxpayer dollars.
"We implore President Obama to find some common ground by not expanding abortion through our tax dollars," he said.
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