"At Notre Dame, Obama
Confronts, Divide Over
Abortion",
"In a speech at Notre Dame, President Obama, defended his support for abortion rights but called for more "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" in the debate".
"17.05,2009."President Obama directly confronted America’s deep divide over abortion on Sunday as he appealed to partisans on both sides to find ways to respect one another’s basic decency and even work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies".
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"As anti-abortion leaders protested his appearance at the University of Notre Dame, the nation’s storied Catholic university, Mr. Obama defended his support for abortion rights but called for more “open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words” in the debate that has polarized the country for decades".
"Maybe we won’t agree on abortion", he told 2,900 graduating seniors, their relatives and professors, “but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any women to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions".
"So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies and making adoption more available and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term".
"The speaking invitation and honorary degree awarded to Mr. Obama provoked a loud argument about the nature of a Catholic institution and the state of the abortion conflict in the United States. Bishops, activists and students have complained that it was inappropriate to honor a supporter of abortion rights since he diverges so profoundly from the church’s teachings".
"About 100 anti-abortion demonstrators shouted angry slogans at the edge of campus, angrily heckling back and forth with a smaller number of abortion rights demonstrators. They shouted through megaphones, waved banners at motorists, and handed out leaflets to pedestrians. At least five anti-abortion activists were led away in handcuffs, according to the Associated Press, which also reported that police had arrested 23 protestors on Saturday".
"There was little sign of protest inside Joyce Center, though. Early in his speech, Mr. Obama was interrupted briefly by two protesters, both of whom were shouted down, and a relative handful of graduating students adorned their mortar board with yellow anti-abortion symbols. But just as many had Mr. Obama’s red-white-and-blue campaign logo on theirs, and the building had erupted in loud and sustained cheering when the president entered".
"The problem here is that we’re trivializing abortion,” the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said on “Fox News Sunday” before the commencement ceremony. “But the people are speaking out".
"People are getting angry that 1.2 million children are being aborted every year. Now this honorary doctorate today is a law degree. Law is for the protection of human rights".
"Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee and a Catholic, said Notre Dame should have allowed Mr. Obama to speak but not given him an honorary degree. “I think it’s inappropriate,” he said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And the president should speak, but the degree should not be conferred".
"Until Sunday, Mr. Obama has tried to avoid getting too enmeshed in the abortion debate, saying at one point that he wanted “to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue.” He repealed President George W. Bush’s restrictions on federal money for international organizations that promote or provide abortion services overseas and embryonic stem cell research".
"But he left it to Congress to decide whether to lift a ban on the use of tax dollars to create human embryos or to conduct research in which embryos are destroyed. And although he endorsed abortion rights legislation during last year’s campaign, he said last month that “the Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority".
"But the Notre Dame invitation and the pending retirement of Justice David Souter, who voted to uphold abortion rights on the Supreme Court, have pushed the issue to the forefront again. And a new poll by Gallup suggested a shift in public opinion".
"Fifty-one percent called themselves “pro-life” on abortion compared with 42 percent who described themselves as “pro-choice,” the first time a majority has embraced the position since Gallup began asking the question back in 1995".
"In his commencement address, Mr. Obama said he supported a “sensible conscience clause,” referring to legislative actions that allow doctors or other health care providers to withhold abortion or other services that conflict with their religious beliefs. But he used the opportunity to call for more diversity of opinion and respect for differences"..
"Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction,” he said. “But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature".
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