A group of Christian supporters of Barack Obama – who has a 100 percent pro-abortion Senate voting record – have created a website touting the Democratic presidential candidate as the most pro-life choice in November's election.
The Pro-Life Pro-Obama website argues that Obama's economic and health care plans and support of programs for the poor will do more for reducing abortions in the U.S. than the positions of his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.
The site also claims Obama's plans will reduce the number of abortions more than even overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that launched the legalization of abortion across the country.
The site's spokesman, author Douglas W. Kmiec, a former professor and U.S. assistant attorney general under Reagan, writes, "After 35 years, a new approach is needed. Too many unborn lives are being lost as we wait for judges to get it right. Barack Obama's strengthening of support for prenatal care, health care, maternity leave, and adoption will make the difference."
The website cites a Catholics United study that concluded overturning Roe v. Wade would only send abortion law decisions to the states, in which case, the study estimated, at most 16 states would outlaw abortion, leaving it legal in most of the country.
Some pro-life leaders, however, find it impossible to look at Obama's 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood and endorsement from NARAL and call the candidate pro-life.
In an article on her organization's CitizenLink website, Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family Action, calls the Pro-life Pro-Obama website "a desperate attempt to attract pro-life Christian voters to Obama by misrepresenting and redefining the pro-life cause." She calls it "an insult and affront to every true pro-lifer in the country."
"The meaning of pro-life is to protect human life from the single-cell stage to natural death," she writes. "That means opposing public policies that target and destroy innocent human life. From what I can see, not one word of this Web site addresses banning abortion, or even restricting it.
"If Obama wants to reduce abortion, he should support pro-life measures like parental involvement, informed consent and public-funding restrictions. Obama's words and actions do not conform to being pro-life," Earll writes.
Obama's official campaign website does little to persuade pro-life advocates like Earll that the candidate sympathizes with their cause.
The website states, Obama "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."
It also states, "Obama is a co-sponsor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which would allow research of human embryonic stem cells derived from embryos donated (with consent) from in vitro fertilization clinics."
As WND reported, Obama has a record from the Illinois Senate of voting against the same Born Alive Infant Protection Act that passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 98-0, prompting columnist and pro-life advocate Jill Stanek to label Obama the most pro-abortion senator in Congress.
Still, the Matthew 25 Network, a group of pastors and Christians who endorse Obama and produce the Pro-Life Pro-Obama website, believes the Democratic candidate would be a better pro-life choice than Republican John McCain.
In a section of the website called "What Barack Obama Will Do," it reads, "An Obama administration will do more than a McCain administration for the cause of life, by drastically reducing abortions through giving women and families the support and the tools they need to choose life. Barack Obama will strive to promote life with dignity for all from the beginning of life to the end – by making sure health care is affordable, combating poverty, providing good paying jobs, and ensuring security in life's final years."
The section then lists Obama's plan for "combating poverty," which includes expansion of government-funded food and nutrition programs for women and children and raising the minimum wage.
The section does not explain Obama's plan for "providing good paying jobs," nor does it define what it means by the statement "from the beginning of life," a sticking point for many pro-life advocates ever since Obama was asked when life begins and answered the question was "above my pay grade."
The Matthew 25 Network now intends to expand its message of advocacy for Obama's "pro-life plans" by running advertisements on Christian radio stations in battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan between now and the election.
"John McCain says he's pro-life, but he has voted against health care for poor children and support for pregnant women," concludes the radio spot. "Let's elect a president who will protect life today – Barack Obama."
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