Antiabortion Group Releases Ad Criticizing Obama

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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The antiabortion group BornAliveTruth.org announced Monday that it will run an advertisement criticizing Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in New Mexico and Ohio that features a woman who survived a botched abortion, the New York Times reports (Rutenberg/Luo, New York Times, 9/16). In the ad, 31-year-old Gianna Jessen from Nashville, Tenn. -- who was adopted as a child after a failed abortion -- says, "Sen. Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I'm living proof these babies have a right to live." According to the AP/Google.com, the ad, which will appear in New Mexico and Ohio next week at a cost of $350,000, discusses Obama's efforts as a state senator in Illinois to oppose the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

Obama as a state senator opposed three efforts in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to enact the legislation. According to the AP/Google.com, the 2003 measure was virtually the same as a bill President Bush signed into law in 2002. Obama has said that he would have voted for the federal law but added that he and other opponents of the Illinois bill thought it would have undermined the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, and he would have had consequences for state laws governing abortion. Obama's campaign also has said that Illinois already had legislation protecting aborted fetuses that were born alive and were considered able to survive.

Jill Stanek, an organizer of BornAliveTruth.org, said the Illinois legislation also would have protected pre-viable fetuses. According to Stanek, "He took a leadership role in seeing that this bill did not see the light of day" (Kuhnhenn/Babington, AP/Google.com, 9/16). In the ad created by Stanek's group, Jessen says, "I'm a survivor, as are many others ... but if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here," adding, "Four times, Barack Obama voted to oppose a law to protect babies left to die after a failed abortion" (Tapper, "Political Punch," ABC News, 9/16).

According to the AP/Google.com, Stanek's positions on some social issues also has put her "at odds" with Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), including opposing human embryonic stem cell research because it involves destroying human embryos. McCain supports the research for its potential to treat diseases. Stanek has compared actor Michael J. Fox's support for embryonic stem cell research to "high-tech cannibalism" (AP/Google.com, 9/16).

Obama Ad Says McCain Campaign Has Run 'Sleaziest Ads' in Election

In related news, the Obama campaign has released a new ad accusing McCain of running some of the "sleaziest ads" in a presidential election, particularly an ad that says Obama supports comprehensive sex education for kindergartners. According to the AP/Google.com, the ad distorts Obama's record because the legislation at issue would have taught kindergartners age-appropriate material, including information on protecting themselves from sexual predators (Hunt, AP/Google.com, 9/16).

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