Obama Alters Abortion Debate; Abortion Opponents Mark Roe Anniversary With Rallies, Letter

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 23 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Abortion-rights advocates on Thursday -- the anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- are hoping that President Obama's administration will reverse many of former President George W. Bush's anti-abortion policies, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. According to the AP/Yahoo! News, abortion-rights supporters are backing what they refer to as a "common-ground, commonsense" agenda that focuses on reducing unintended pregnancies. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that Obama could "right away" repeal the "global gag rule," also known as the "Mexico City" Policy, which prohibits federal funding for international family planning organizations that with their own funds provide abortions or counsel women about the procedure. Keenan said repealing the policy would "make a big, big difference in the lives of poor women abroad." Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) -- lead sponsor of the Prevention First Act, which would increase federal funding for family planning, comprehensive sex education and access to contraception -- said that abortion-rights supporters "should be focused on finding common ground to prevent unwanted pregnancies so you won't have to worry about abortions in the first place." Other policies abortion-rights advocates hope that Obama will work to overturn include the Hyde Amendment and other laws that ban federal funding for abortions in almost all cases, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. Such efforts would "likely be a bitter debate" in Congress, according to the AP/Yahoo! News (Crary, AP/Yahoo! News, 1/21).

Abortion-rights opponents are urging Obama to end his support for the Freedom of Choice Act. House Republican leader John Boehner (Ohio) sent Obama a letter signed by 80 Republican colleagues asking him to end his support for FOCA. The letter said that "Americans from all walks of life have been touched by [Obama's] pledge to govern from the center, and by [his] vow to be a president for all Americans," adding that the law "would in one tragic act overturn virtually all pro-life laws nationwide." Keenan called Boehner's letter a publicity stunt but added that there are not enough votes in Congress to pass FOCA despite an increase in Congressional abortion-rights supporters in the past two elections (Rosen, Miami Herald, 1/21).

According to the AP/Yahoo! News, several of Obama's high-level appointments "reflect his ties to the abortion-rights movement." Ellen Moran, White House communications director, was the executive director of EMILY'S List, and Domestic Policy adviser Melody Barnes served on the board of EMILY's List. Dawn Johnsen, who has been appointed as an assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel, served as a lawyer for NARAL. "We're excited to have a president who understands and supports women's health needs," President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America Cecile Richards said (AP/Yahoo! News, 1/21).

According to the Herald, abortion-rights opponents are preparing for some expected policy changes during the Obama administration. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said that advocates "expect" Obama to "push a sweeping pro-abortion agenda, which, if successful, would greatly increase the number of abortions" (Miami Herald, 1/21). Johnson added that partnerships between abortion-rights supporters and opponents in Congress have put many anti-abortion policies "in great jeopardy" and that "[s]ome damage is inevitable." He said that the extent to which Obama's abortion-rights agenda will be successful is dependent on the "perception of elected policymakers as to how the public is responding to the proposed changes."

Events such as rallies and vigils are scheduled nationwide on Thursday to mark the Roe anniversary, including the annual March for Life and an abortion-rights vigil outside the Supreme Court hosted by the National Organization for Women (AP/Yahoo! News, 1/21).

~ NPR's "Morning Edition" on Thursday examined the probable reversal of the "global gag rule," which abortion-rights supports say would be "more than symbolic." The program featured comments from abortion-rights advocates DeGette, Keenan and Richards, as well as comments from abortion-rights opponent Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Rovner, "Morning Edition," NPR, 1/22).

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