US News
Obama wades into abortion debate with graduation speech
May 17, 2009, 23:40 GMT
Washington - US President Barack Obama on Sunday acknowledged the hot-button issue of abortion, as he addressed graduates at the University of Notre Dame, stressing that both sides could work together to help women facing unplanned pregnancies.
The appearance by the Democratic president, who supports access to abortion, has sparked high-profile protests at the Catholic university and from pro-life advocates around the country for the past several weeks. More than 70 bishops had weighed in, saying that giving Obama an honorary degree despite his abortion stance was in conflict with the church's opposition to abortion.
'Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions,' Obama said.
He stressed that those on both sides of the issues could work to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and support women who have their babies. He also called for a 'sensible' conscience clause to allow healthcare workers to opt out of procedures they object to on moral or religious grounds.
Obama's speech at the campus in South Bend, Indiana, was interrupted several times by protestors in the audience, but the interruptions were booed by the largely receptive crowd of 12,000. Several dozen of the graduates wore mortarboards decorated with crosses and small footprints to represent aborted foetuses.
'I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,' he told graduates.
'Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.'
The issue will likely to remain in the spotlight as Obama weighs his choice for an opening on the US Supreme Court. Views on abortion are widely debated in choices of justice to the high court, with any challenges to abortion laws likely to end up before the high court. Activists on both sides of the issue have been vocal in seeking justices that share their views.
About 35 protestors from pro-life groups were arrested for trespassing on campus at Notre Dame, the local South Bend Tribune newspaper reported. Norma McCorvey, the woman whose legal case seeking the right to have an abortion succeeded in the US Supreme Court in 1971, was among those arrested. She has since become an anti-abortion crusader.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Indeed you are right,but there is no connection except that some catholic priests performed it .Perhaps one should ponder on the fact that a church which has a very long tradition of hostile attitude towards women is,is not officially involved into the process of procreation at all,uses a set of dogmas and measures that dates back to time during which scientific knowledge was absent,is hardly the institution capable of dishing out rules or advice on this matter .I know some popes and of course most other pawns inside the church hierarchy did gather some experience with procreating ,however the fruit of those moments during which those spiritual leaders seemed oblivious to their own rules was generally hidden in closets,groomed and raised by others ,hardly making the the clergy an authorized source of advice on these matters .
Nowadays science is dragged into the debate rather reluctantly by the various churches ,only in very small quantity so as not to conflict with the realm of more obscure spiritual matters .Hence I think that the debate should be focussed on these scientific principles :now can any religious person involved in this debate tell me why they think we should yield to their opposition against abortion,considering we do not belong to the flock that believes in their private set of subjective values that defines their religion.Based on science please....
It's times like these that make me very proud to be a 'former' catholic.
That those who aren't of the Catholic faith have no reason to feel they have to adhere to their 'rules', which, by the way, are many. It just seems to me the abortion controversy is first and foremost on their agenda, when the pedophile priests should always be. That is in their 'backyard' so to speak. Abortion will always be controversial, and like all protests, they are also filled with people who join protests just for the heck of it and to cause turmoil. Intelligent people go about their opposition to things in a more civilized way where it will do more good. Standing on a street corner yelling and holding signs accomplishes nothing.
The American Republic is the only way in 2012
... no matter what your beliefs, the catholic position on life is inassailable: against abortion, capital punishment, Murder, suicide, and the prolonging death by artificial means. Notre Dame was suppposed to be a Catholic insitiution, and now the Masquerade is over. In my mind, Obama did them a favor.
Sorry,but again you misunderstood everything ...I take it you're not of the catholic faith.If you are ,it was a waste of time ,torture has no place in it.Since you are obviously of american extraction,perhaps the simple rule 'what would jesus do ' could help you understand,but we all doubt that here.
...I'm afraid you misunderstood everything. Let me TRY to inform you:
1) this has nothing to do with torture. If it did, they'd invite Nancy Pelosi.
2) the Catholic Church is specific about Abortion: they oppose it.
3) Obama is the most radical abortion proponent in the US, and his record proves it. To permit Notre dame to be a forum for his beliefs removes the facade they have been covering themselves with for years. Notre dame is a catholic insititution in name only, from now on. Obama did everyone a favor in outing them.
Now, if you need further assistance, we would be happy to help, but at least make an effort to be accurate,if insist on wearing that much hubris.
The Catholic religion is full of man-made rules, and everyone intreprets the Bible as they see fit. If someone isn't for abortion, fine, but don't infringe your thinking on others. The abortion line is very fine indeed.
It is a very private thing, between a woman and her doctor. Nobody else has any business in the matter.
...government regulates every facet of health care. Roe V. Wade even stipulates government's right to regulate abortion. That being the case, sit back and wait for a state like S. Dakota to demonstrate. It's coming and it's going to be an eye opener.
I change my story in one case, and one case only. Society would be a far better place if SP4 were retroactively aborted. In his case the majority opinion should rule. His mother, being a denizen of a sty had no say in who, or what, fathered the illigitimate beast.
Don't you mean sired?
Fetalmania
Just who we need to lecture the assembled on a serious matter.
Rowe v. Wade is settled law, and leaves the mother's business up to the mother.
Based on Republican principles, one would think that it's what they'd stand for.
Like I said, abortion is a very fine line to walk. There are good reasons for abortion, but I don't condone it just for birth control. And that said, it's my opinion, and I don't believe it's my place to push my feelings onto others.
I was not disagreeing with you.
..you should go READ Roe v. Wade. You might even find it more fascinating than monkey boys insults, although i doubt it.
Roe does nothing of the sort. It states clearly that states have every right to regulate abortion as they see fit. What they cannot do is simply deny abortion for no reason.
Now, professor, watch as one of these states decides, after 30 or so years to actually do it. It will end up in the Supreme court, where it will certainly be heard, and the judges will be faced with the monumental task of either overturning it, or backing it's premises.
Settled Law? Who was the moron who coined that phrase???
'you should go READ'
SP should first learn to read. With time, and a lot of reading, he may come to understand. This is a faint hope, however, given SP's reluctance(inability) to inform, educate himself.
all he 'needs' to know from Rush Limbaugh's ass.
I know you weren't - sorry it came off that way.
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ParkerMay 18th, 2009 - 03:29:03
Catholics protest Obama's speech and abortion, yet the harm done by pedophile priests is astronomical.
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