Abortion

Abortion

Well, we have officially entered the silly season of the presidential campaign.  And even the abortion issue has somehow got caught up in all the hyperbole and downright nastiness.

Take, for example, the latest outrage, at least according to press releases by the pro-life movement.   Did you know, they scream in horror, that the president of United Airlines actually hosted a fundraiser for a Texas-based Planned Parenthood affiliate?  OMG, what is this world coming to?

Then there’s the latest out of Hollywood, that den of iniquity whose residents support abortion up to the moment of high school graduation.  It seems that the Obama campaign is actually “tapping celebrities” for his re-election effort and the pro-life movement apparently thinks it’s important for the American public to know that actresses Jessica Alba and Natalie Portman have joined Obama in his support for “abortion on demand.”  Oh, the outrage!  (And don’t get me started on Clint Eastwood)

On the macro level, the abortion issue has been the source of some very interesting – and disappointing – turn of events.  Indeed, I must say how disappointed I am in the Obama campaign.  Yes, you heard me right.

Abortion

Abortion

At this time, it is extremely clear (at least to me) that as President, Mitt Romney would outlaw all abortions unless the woman’s life was endangered or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.  Now don’t get me started on how abortion isn’t “murder” when it was the product of rape or incest.  I still don’t get that rationale.  But a few weeks ago, a commercial produced by the Obama campaign caught my attention.  Accompanied by the usual foreboding music and grainy photographs reminiscent of the one of the Loch Ness monster, a voice says that “Romney Ryan” would outlaw all abortions except when the woman’s life was endangered.  Yep, it says very clearly that Romney and running mate Paul Ryan have “both backed proposals that would outlaw abortions even in cases of rape or incest.”

This is an accurate reflection of Ryan’s position but, as for Romney, the Obama folks are pushing it.

What the Obama campaign points to is that at some point Romney also said he supports legislation that defines life as beginning at conception and that legislation is normally interpreted to be a ban on all abortions.  Now, not to defend Romney, but he is not a smart guy and like so many others he gets tongue tied when it comes to the abortion issue. He clearly has not thought about the implications of defining when life begins in a legal sense because all of his other statements make clear he supports some exceptions.  Even Mr. Ryan has acknowledged that he will support Romney on that one.

Romney’s obvious confusion about abortion was also in evidence when he recently said that he would ALSO support abortions if a woman’s “health” was endangered.  As all pro-lifers know, that is the third rail of their movement because they believe you can drive a Mack truck through that “loophole.”  They suggest that abortions could be performed if a woman had a headache, as it would affect her “health.”  Indeed, I am shocked that I have not seen screaming press releases from the pro-life movement condemning Romney’s comments.   Hello out there?

So, Romney is all over the board, like he is on so many other issues.  But, getting back to the President and his team, I really think they are stretching it a bit.  Romney has said over and over again that he supports rape and incest exceptions for abortion, despite his confusion about when life begins.  He is just not a smart man.  But the President is a smart man and he has no reason to play these kinds of games.

The commercial is misleading, Mr. President.  You don’t need to go down that road and get in that gutter.

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