NOW Chapter Criticizes Obama's Present Votes On Abortion-Related Bills As Illinois Senator

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 06 Feb 2008 - 11:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

In an e-mail to its members on Monday, the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women criticized Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) for voting "present" instead of yes or no on some abortion-related bills in the state Senate, the Washington Post reports. NOW is supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) for the Democratic nomination.

The e-mail, sent by Connecticut NOW President Rosemary Dempsey, quotes Bonnie Grabenhofer, president of Illinois NOW, as saying that "voting present on those bills was a strategy that Illinois NOW did not support." Grabenhofer adds that the organization "made it clear at the time that we disagreed with the strategy. ...Voting present doesn't provide a platform from which to show leadership and say with conviction that we support a woman's right to choose and these bills are unacceptable" (Mosk, Washington Post, 2/5).

Obama has been criticized by the Clinton campaign because he voted "present" in 1997 on measures that would have banned so-called "partial-birth" abortion and in 2001 on measures that would have required parental notification before a minor could receive an abortion. Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, has said Illinois legislators were encouraged to vote present on the bills to encourage moderate Republicans and Democrats to do the same, thereby defeating the measures (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/7).

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who has endorsed Obama, on Monday afternoon sent out a response to Dempsey's e-mail, defending Obama's record on supporting abortion rights and calling the e-mail an attempt "to falsely attack and artificially divide" the Democratic Party. DeLauro wrote that the "facts are clear -- in the Illinois state Senate, choice advocates asked strong pro-choice legislators like Sen. Obama to vote present on Republican-designed bills like a ban on partial-birth abortion to protect a woman's right to choose." She added that Obama "has always had a 100% pro-choice rating, and he is the only candidate running for president who stood up and spoke out when South Dakota passed an incredibly restrictive ban on abortion" (Washington Post, 2/5).

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.

© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.