Blogs Comment On Obama's Abortion Stance; Supreme Court; Access To Contraception

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 13 Oct 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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~ "Media, Obama Afraid of Abortion Issue," John Jakubczyk, ProLifeBlogs.com: Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) "does not want to talk about his radical abortion position" and has deliberately "stay[ed] far away from that very volatile issue" to avoid losing support from Christian voters, Jakubczyk writes in a blog entry. Jakubczyk adds that the media also "will not mention the subject of abortion" because "[t]he media does not want the Hispanic, Latino, Mexican, Cuban, Filipino, Puerto Rican communities discussing Obama's support for abortion." He continues, "The press does not want to talk about infanticide and how Obama voted against protecting born infants who survive abortion" or "his support for the Freedom of Choice Act and including abortion in universal health care insurance." Jakubczyk writes that the media "wants everyone to feel that [Obama] is the one who can help them out of the current situation," adding that Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is the only "candidate who truly cares about the family, marriage and children" (Jakubczyk, ProLifeBlogs.com, 10/9).

~ "Abortion and the Supreme Court: One Depressing Possibility," Ann Bartow, Feminist Law Professors: The Supreme Court "has already been lost" when it comes to the future of Roe v. Wade, Bartow writes. "There are already five conservative Catholic men who have expressed antiabortion sentiments on the Court who can overturn Roe v. Wade almost any time they like," she writes, adding that she believes "those five judges did not want to overturn Roe at a time when it would complicate life for George W. Bush or make it less likely that a Republican was elected in his wake." If Obama is elected president, "they may well pull the trigger" -- overturning Roe, "substantially derail[ing]" many of Obama's family planning initiatives and allowing as many as 30 states to "make abortions illegal the minute" the decision is overturned -- Bartow writes. Because "simply electing Obama will not save the rights embedded in what remains of Roe v. Wade," it is "important to be ready with draft legislation that establishes a national right to abortion to quickly introduce into Congress as soon as the elections are over and Obama is sworn in" (Bartow, Feminist Law Professors, 10/8).

~ "Access to Birth Control, Under the Next President," Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check: Support for access to contraception is "hard to measure ... for two reasons," Marcotte writes in a blog entry. "'[A]ccess' and 'contraception' both denote very broad categories," she writes, adding that contraception is "everything from condoms to birth control pills to sterilization, and access points range from non-profit distribution to convenience store to doctor's offices." In the blog entry, Marcotte "point[s] out five basic areas where access meets contraception" and compares McCain and Obama's positions on each area. The areas include availability of prescriptions from physicians, access to contraception through not-for-profit groups and government programs, access to contraception at pharmacies, education on how to use contraception, and affordability of contraception (Marcotte, RH Reality Check, 10/8).

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