Print
E-mail
Obama Alienates Americans
Orders Funding Abortion As Millions March for Life
By Michael P. Tremoglie, The Bulletin
Last Friday, one day after hundreds of thousands of people marched in Washington, D.C. to protest the practice of abortion, President Barrack Obama issued orders to expand the procedure. He initially had been scheduled to do so on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. But, according to some inside accounts, he feared a public relations disaster and waited until the next day.
Mr. Obama signed an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. Known as the “Mexico City policy,” the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since President Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
Mr. Obama signed it quietly, without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon, a contrast to the midday signings with fanfare of executive orders on other subjects earlier in the week. But its divisive effects will still be felt.
Just last week, during his inauguration, the new president said that he wanted to choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” and that he wanted to “proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
But millions oppose the reversal.
Reacting to Mr. Obama’s new policy, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president & CEO of Americans for United for Life Action said, “What a terrible way to begin a new administration: with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends. We should not export the tragedy of abortion to other nations, and we certainly shouldn’t do so via the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers.”
The Catholic News quoted Carlos Polo, a Peruvian who is Director for Latin America of the Population Research Council, as saying, “Where is Obama’s promise to fight poverty in order to reduce the number of abortions?”
In a letter made public on the Monday before the inauguration, Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked Mr. Obama not to abandon the pro-life policies.
“The Catholic Church teaches that each human being, at every moment of biological development, from conception to natural death, has an inherent right to life,” Cardinal George said in the letter. “We are committed to not only reducing abortion, but to making it unthinkable as an answer to an unintended pregnancy.”
The cardinal said Mr. Obama’s previous remarks concerning his uncertainty about when life begins and his desire to reduce abortion provided “common ground” between the Church and the administration.
“Uncertainty about when human rights begin provides no basis for compelling others to violate their conviction that these rights exist from the beginning,” Cardinal George wrote. “And if your goal is to reduce abortions, that will not be achieved by involving the government in expanding and promoting abortions.”
Others characterize Mr. Obama’s actions as trying to impose American culture on poor nations.
“This is liberal cultural imperialism,” said Father Michael Orsi of Ave Maria University Law School, Ann Arbor Michigan. “They are encouraging the killing of babies in foreign lands.”
Michael P. Tremoglie can be contacted at mtremoglie@thebulletin.us
Mr. Obama signed an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. Known as the “Mexico City policy,” the ban has been reinstated and then reversed by Republican and Democratic presidents since President Ronald Reagan established it in 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.
Mr. Obama signed it quietly, without coverage by the media, late Friday afternoon, a contrast to the midday signings with fanfare of executive orders on other subjects earlier in the week. But its divisive effects will still be felt.
Just last week, during his inauguration, the new president said that he wanted to choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” and that he wanted to “proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
But millions oppose the reversal.
Reacting to Mr. Obama’s new policy, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president & CEO of Americans for United for Life Action said, “What a terrible way to begin a new administration: with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends. We should not export the tragedy of abortion to other nations, and we certainly shouldn’t do so via the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers.”
The Catholic News quoted Carlos Polo, a Peruvian who is Director for Latin America of the Population Research Council, as saying, “Where is Obama’s promise to fight poverty in order to reduce the number of abortions?”
In a letter made public on the Monday before the inauguration, Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked Mr. Obama not to abandon the pro-life policies.
“The Catholic Church teaches that each human being, at every moment of biological development, from conception to natural death, has an inherent right to life,” Cardinal George said in the letter. “We are committed to not only reducing abortion, but to making it unthinkable as an answer to an unintended pregnancy.”
The cardinal said Mr. Obama’s previous remarks concerning his uncertainty about when life begins and his desire to reduce abortion provided “common ground” between the Church and the administration.
“Uncertainty about when human rights begin provides no basis for compelling others to violate their conviction that these rights exist from the beginning,” Cardinal George wrote. “And if your goal is to reduce abortions, that will not be achieved by involving the government in expanding and promoting abortions.”
Others characterize Mr. Obama’s actions as trying to impose American culture on poor nations.
“This is liberal cultural imperialism,” said Father Michael Orsi of Ave Maria University Law School, Ann Arbor Michigan. “They are encouraging the killing of babies in foreign lands.”
Michael P. Tremoglie can be contacted at mtremoglie@thebulletin.us
 |
 |
|
| Pro-Lifers Needs To Focus On FOCA | Cardinal Newman Society Protests Ayers Lecture |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thebulletin.us.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
