Obama At Notre Dame

Obama Legitimizes Killing of Unborn Babies in Speech at Notre Dame's Graduation

Monday, May 18, 2009
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief
CNSNews.com



(CNSNews.com) - After receiving an honorary doctorate in law at the University of Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony yesterday, President Barack Obama delivered a speech to the school's graduating seniors that sought to legitimize his position in favor of the legal killing of unborn children.

Obama told the graduates of the nation’s most well-known Catholic university that abortion “has both moral and spiritual dimensions”--although he did not explain why he had made this conclusion—and made it quite clear that, even so, he has no intention of moving from his position that it ought to be legal for a pregnant mother to have a doctor kill her unborn child for literally any reason at any stage of pregnancy.

The president also did not take back his declaration made in 2007 to Planned Parenthood that he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act, a bill that would eliminate all the state and federal limitations on abortion that have been achieved by the pro-life movement in the 26 years since the Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Nor did Obama rescind his vow to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that currently protects states that do not recognize same-sex marriages from being compelled by the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution to recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states.

Nor did he reverse his executive order allowing federal tax dollars to be used for research that kills human embryos in order to extract their stem cells.

Nor did he reverse his order to allow U.S. foreign aid dollars to be used to perform and promote abortion in foreign countries.

But he did lecture the Notre Dame graduates that the “two camps are irreconcilable” on the question of whether unborn life ought to be protected in law or left vulnerable to abortion, making it clear that he falls on the pro-abortion side of this unbridgeable divide.

Much of his speech exalted the idea that for pro-lifers to work together with people who favor the legal killing of unborn children is a more civilized and noble cause than the cause of protecting innocent life itself.

“The gay activist and the evangelical pastor may both deplore the ravages of HIV/AIDS, but find themselves unable to bridge the cultural divide that might unite their efforts,” Obama said. “Those who speak out against stem cell research may be rooted in an admirable conviction about the sacredness of life, but so are the parents of a child with juvenile diabetes who are convinced that their son's or daughter's hardships can be relieved.”

“The question then,” said Obama, “is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without, as [Notre Dame President] Father John [Jenkins] said, demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side? And of course, nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.”

“That's when we begin to say, ‘Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions,” said Obama.

“So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies,” said Obama. “Let's make adoption more available. Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women. Those are things we can do.”

“Now, understand, Class of 2009, I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it--indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory--the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable,” said Obama. “Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words. It's a way of life that has always been the Notre Dame tradition.”

Other related posts from CNSNews.com:

• Cardinal George: ‘Notre Dame Didn't Understand What It Means to Be Catholic’ When They Invited Obama
• Two More Catholic Bishops Speak Out against Notre Dame Honoring Pro-Abortion Obama
• Phoenix Bishop Blasts Notre Dame’s President for ‘Public Act of Disobedience to the Bishops of the United States’
• Catholic Notre Dame Will Award Pro-Abortion Obama an Honorary Law Degree
• At Notre Dame, Pro-Abortion Obama Wears Prayer Symbolizing Dedication of all Notre Dame's Activities to Virgin Mary
• Top Vatican Official: Notre Dame’s Honoring ‘Anti-Life and Anti-Family’ Obama ‘Is a Source of the Gravest Scandal’
• Obamamania Infects Notre Dame
• After Notre Dame Speech, Obama Attends Two Fundraisers