Obama's Choice

Ever wonder why Barack Obama is pro-choice and supports Roe v. Wade?

Well, he answered the question in a recent Rick Warren forum. Obama says:

"I believe in Roe v. Wade and come to that conclusion not because I'm pro-abortion, but because ultimately I don't think women make these decisions casually. They wrestle with these things in profound ways..."

Remarkably disappointing. Leaving aside whether the decisions are made casually or not, he is basically saying that a moral issue is culpable depending on whether we've "wrestled with it" beforehand. By this definition, premeditated murder is okay if it wasn't done casually or in the heat of the moment. It's the typical modern belief that there is nothing intrinsically evil.

This is why Obama is easier to listen in speeches than to read in transcript: he rarely says something meaty or principled, although that's not to say he isn't an extremist. He could've been more convincing by saying that he didn't know when life began and until he was certain he preferred to leave it up to the woman. "It's her body," seems more principled than assuming or assigning motives to the hundreds of thousands of mothers who choose to abort a child each year. Trying to make abortion sound kinder and gentler doesn't make it any kinder or gentler for the aborted children.