Obama: Closing Arguments

Public Discourse:

A fundamental principle of Catholic social teaching--and any sound political philosophy--is that all members of the human family possess inherent and equal dignity, and deserve the protection of the law. This applies regardless of sex, race, or creed, but also regardless of age, size, stage of development, or level of dependency. Chaput affirms this principle. Kmiec equivocates--at best. Obama denies it. Indeed, Obama's record shows that he denies it more forcefully than any major politician in American history.

Princeton legal philosopher Robert P. George has spelled it all out: Obama opposes the Hyde Amendment, which restricts taxpayer funding of abortions in the U.S., and the Mexico City policy, which bars the use of federal taxes for abortions overseas. He has promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which abortion-rights advocates themselves say would ''sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies,'' including parental-involvement and notification requirements, mandatory pre-abortion counseling and ultra-sounds, late-term abortion restrictions, and even conscience protections for health-care providers.

Obama opposed the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on partial-birth abortion and has promised to appoint only pro-Roe justices to the Supreme Court, calling abortion a constitutional right essential to women's equality. As a state senator, he even opposed legislation (which the U.S. Senate passed in identical form by a 98-0 vote) to protect children who are born alive after failed abortions.