Watchdog Group Vindicates Criticism of Obama on Abortion

From LifeNews.com


A leading pro-life organization that has been holding Barack Obama accountable for his votes against a bill that would provide medical care for newborns who survive failed abortions says it has been vindicated. The nonpartisan watchdog FactCheck said National Right to Life was right about Obama's record. The FactCheck web site of the University of Pennsylvania reviewed the debate over the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

It confirmed NRLC's claims that Obama has been misleading when he's said he voted against the bill because it didn't mirror a national version that had language making it neutral on Roe v. Wade. Responding to the conclusions, NRLC legislative director Douglas Johnson told LifeNews.com, "The most important finding by FactCheck.org is their statement that NRLC is correct and that 'Obama is misrepresenting the contents of SB 1083."

"FactCheck.org's investigation validated the documents that NRLC uncovered and released on August 11, documents that prove that in March, 2003, Obama killed a bill in his state Senate committee that was virtually identical to the bill that passed without a dissenting vote in Congress," he explained. Obama had responded to those documents claiming National Right to Life was "lying" about his record. Full story at LifeNews.com.

National Right to Life Releases Updated White Paper

Rebutting Obama's "Shifting Claims" on Born-Alive Infants

WASHINGTON (August 28, 2008) -- The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) today issued an expanded "white paper" regarding the growing controversy regarding the record of Barack Obama on the right to life of babies who are born alive during abortions.

The new document comes 17 days after NRLC's release, on August 11, of newly uncovered documents that demonstrated that Obama had been mispresenting his record on the issue since 2004. On August 16, when asked specifically about the NRLC charges during a televised interview with CBN's David Brody, Obama responded that "they have not been telling the truth" and "folks are lying." But in a report issued August 25, the independent organization FactCheck.org concluded: "Obama's claim is wrong. . . . The documents from the NRLC support the group's claims that Obama is misrepresenting the contents of SB 1082."

The new NRLC document is titled, "Barack Obama's Actions and Shifting Claims on the Protection of Born-Alive Aborted Infants -- and What They Tell Us About His Thinking on Abortion." It is authored by NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson and Legislative Counsel Susan T. Muskett. The white paper (with links to pertinent documents) may be viewed in a web browser here, or downloaded in the PDF format here.

To view a previous (August 18) NRLC "white paper" that explains the history of the legislation and Obama's actions regarding it, click here.

The primary documents referred to in the NRLC white papers are also posted on the NRLC website, here.

In his August 23 weekly radio address, Senator John McCain criticized Obama's record on the born-alive infants issue in these words: "In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require medical care for babies who survive abortions – living, breathing babies whom Senator Obama described as, quote, 'previable.' This merciful law was called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Illinois had a [proposed] version of the same law, and Barack Obama voted against it. At Saddleback, he assured a reporter that he'd have voted 'yes' on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Even though the language of both the state and federal bills was identical, Senator Obama said people were, quote, 'lying' about his record. When that record was later produced, he dropped the subject but didn't withdraw the slander. And now even Senator Obama's campaign has conceded that his claims and accusations were false."

(To read or listen to the entire address via the Time magazine website, click here.)