Abortion Rights Advocates Respond To Obama's Comments Concerning Health Exception

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 11 Jul 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Days after Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) comment that "mental distress" should not qualify as a justification for "late-term" abortions and his subsequent clarification, some abortion-rights advocates are "satisfied" while others are "far from it or just plain confused," The Politico reports (Budoff Brown, The Politico, 7/10).

In an interview last week with the Christian magazine Relevant, Obama said, "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term" (Montopoli, CBS News, 7/9). According to The Politico, that statement appeared to put Obama at odds with longstanding case law establishing that medical judgments about the need for abortion could include physical, emotional and psychological health factors (The Politico, 7/10). Obama added, "I have repeatedly said that I think it's entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother" (CBS News, 7/9).

Obama on Saturday clarified his position and said, "I have consistently been saying that you have to have a health exception on many significant restrictions or bans on abortions including late-term abortions." He added, "My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental [or] having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health [and] it can be defined by serious clinical mental health diseases" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/7).

Reaction

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, on Wednesday said Obama's "statement really feeds into the wingnut argument that women have abortions because they are frivolous about that decision, because we are having a bad hair day." She added, "There seems to be an information gap there." Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said, "What worries people is that [Obama's comment] has come in a two-week period where there has been a reach out to evangelical voters. In doing that, there must be a reach out to women voters." Smeal added that Obama has an "excellent" voting record on supporting abortion rights, so "his statements lend some confusion where there shouldn't be any."

Kate Michelman -- former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, who personally endorsed Obama in February -- said Obama is not weakening his support for Roe v. Wade but rather articulating his understanding that abortions in the second and third trimesters should be rare and necessitated by serious health issues. Obama "was very deliberately speaking to those people, who over the past 35 years, have made the case that the exception to protect women's health is a big loophole through which women can leap when they are feeling blue," Michelman said. She added, "Obama was making it clear that he doesn't believe that is what women do and what the law allows."

After Relevant magazine published the interview, NARAL Pro-Choice America, which endorsed Obama in May, issued a statement that said Obama is a strong supporter of Roe and that his views are consistent with the ruling. In addition, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund on Tuesday formally endorsed Obama, The Politico reports (The Politico, 7/10). Cecile Richards, president of PPAF, said that Obama is a "passionate advocate for women's rights and has a long and consistent record of standing up for women's health care. As president, he will improve access to quality health care for women, support and protect a woman's right to choose, support comprehensive sex education to keep our young people healthy and safe, and invest in prevention programs, including family planning services and breast cancer screenings" (PPAF release, 6/7).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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