Reasons to agree:
- A baby that is born is no longer a fetus, it is a baby. It is wrong to kill babies. It is especially wrong to kill babies when the baby no longer requires his or her mother to provide life. Once a baby is born, it no longer requires it's mother and could be given up for adoption. We can agree to disagree on abortions during the first few months, but partial-birth abortion is the way that lawyers, like Obama, allow a mother to kill a baby, before the feet come all the way out. By leaving the baby partially inside the mother, lawyers will say that it is not a baby. This is disgusting, and is an example of why people should specifically hate Obama, and lawyers in general.
- Obama said that he would have supported the act, if it provided for exceptions to the mother's life. This is a lie. John K. Wilson, an Obama Supporter said; "Although these bills included an exception to save the life of the mother, they didn’t include anything about abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother. The legislation defined a fetus as a person, & could have criminalized virtually all abortion." This is a straw man argument. The bill would not have criminalized virtually all abortions. This is a bold-faced lie. John K. Wilson is making a slippery slope argument, saying that if a fetus is truly defined as a person, then some day other people could use that definition to write another law that outlawed virtually all abortions. However, the bill that Obama voted against only had anything to do with partial-birth abortions, and it is a scare tactics and lies to say that it had anything to do with anything else.
- An "On the Issues" article says, "In 1997, Obama voted against SB 230, which would have turned doctors into felons by banning so-called partial-birth abortion". This uses very misleading wording. It says the bill would have "turned doctors into felons". This is stupid. The bill would have made it a felony in Illinois to perform "so-called" partial-birth abortions. First of all, the guy, John K. Wilson, p.147-148, uses the words "so called" partial-birth abortions, as though it is inaccurate. What happens in a partial birth abortion is the woman goes through labor, and the baby comes partly out of the womb. The baby is then killed, while the baby has been partially born. The baby is killed before it comes all the way out, because if the baby was born all the way, it would be illegal to kill it. So I don't know what John K. Wilson is complaining about by calling it "so-called" partial birth abortion, but yes the bill would have made those doctors who committed felonies, into felons. But it is not like doctors would not know that partial birth abortions were illegal. It’s not like we would surprise them, or trick them. The wording is stupid. If you made a law that said doctors can’t juggle babies, that would also turn doctors into felons. But only those doctors who ignored the law and continued their baby juggling ways.
- Obama says that we should trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion. Weather you believe partial-birth abortion is right or wrong, you can’t use that sort of logic. Obama is too smart to have used this kind of argument without knowing how stupid it is. He knows that it is a sham, but he uses this sort of logic, because stupid people agree with him. That sort of logic is exactly like saying, that we should trust men to make their own decisions about tax evasion. When you start something with the words, “Lets trust women to make their own decisions”, you are ½ the way to convincing stupid people, and you get to avoid making any decisions about something being right or wrong yourself. Q: What us your view on the decision on partial-birth abortion and your reaction to most of the public agreeing with the court’s holding? A: I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families (and politicians) who make these decisions. They don’t make them casually (no one makes them casually? A lot of teen boys don't use condoms because they don't like the way they feel. A lot of teen age girls don't force their boyfrinds to use condoms because they don't want to make them mad. A lot of people make life decisions very casually. 1.2 million abortions in 2005. A lot of those were decisions made casually). And I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy (yes, withing the first months of pregancy, but partial birth abortions are full term). And I think that’s where most Americans are. Now, when you describe a specific procedure that accounts for less than 1% of the abortions that take place, then naturally, people get concerned, and I think legitimately so (so we should legalize aeverything that is rare? I could make ridiculus examples, like canabalsm, to make a point, but then people would say that I'm crazy, or that I'm comparing the two. No. I'm attacking the logic. We shouldn't legalize everything that is rare). But the broader issue here is: Do women have the right to make these profoundly difficult decisions (no the broader issue is you were asked about partial birth abortion, and your trying to change the subject)? And I trust them to do it (so I'm not going to answer the question). There is a broader issue: Can we move past some of the debates around which we disagree (not if you don't answer the questions honestly) and can we start talking about the things we do agree on (oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Can you stop asking me difficult questions)? Reducing teen pregnancy; making it less likely for women to find themselves in these circumstances (just because Obama wants to ignore this practice doesn't make it go away. Ignoring it will allow it to keep happening). Source: 2007 South Carolina Democratic primary debate, on MSNBC Apr 26, 2007
Reasons to disagree:
- Obama said that he would have supported the act, if it provided for exceptions to the mother's life. He said; "On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that." http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm
Webpages that agree:
Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):
- Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
- Racism (critisizing a minority because he is a minority)
- Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.
Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is wrong):
- Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
- Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)
- Making themselves feel better about decisions they might have made.