August 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Did Obama vote in favor of infanticide? Pro-life activists have long made the argument that he did, and that a conspiracy of silence from the mainstream media is the only thing that has prevented Americans from knowing the full extent of Obama’s extreme views on the abortion issue.
Now, newly unearthed audio from 2002 shows Barack Obama, then a state senator in Illinois, discussing the bill that has elicited charges that he voted to allow “infanticide”: the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA).
Jill Stanek brought the born-alive infant abuse to light.
Jill Stanek brought the born-alive infant abuse to light.
The bill was introduced after pro-life nurse Jill Stanek witnessed babies being born alive after failed abortions, then being brought to a room in the hospital where she worked and left to die. The legislation, which ultimately passed, mandated that doctors must provide care to babies born alive after failed abortions.
However, one of the most ardent opponents of the bill, whorepeatedly voted against it, was now-President Barack Obama. In audio dug up this week by John McCormack of The Weekly Standard, then-Senator Obama is heard attempting to explain his opposition to the bill.
While his explanations are extremely convoluted and difficult to quote, the thrust of Obama’s argument is that he trusts that abortionists who make “an error” that results in a baby being born alive will take care of the baby.
Obama says that if you argue that an abortionist wouldn’t try “to exercise the sort of medical measures and practices that would be involved in saving that child” of his own accord, then “maybe this bill makes sense” (notice the “maybe”!). But he adds, “I, at least, have confidence that a doctor who is in that room is going to make sure that they’re looked after.”
Of course, the obvious response to Obama’s paper-thin objection is to point to the clear evidence that, in fact, abortionists were not providing such care. Babies were being killed - not quickly or mercifully, but by being left exposed, without food or water, to die. And, after all, what motivation would an abortionist, who was moments ago seeking to kill the baby, have to save the life of the same baby, especially when doing so would only expose the fact that he screwed up?
But in one turn of phrase that is extremely revealing Obama attempts to describe the purpose of the bill, and says that the “fetus, or child – however way you want to describe it – is now outside the womb.”
One of the great doctrines of the pro-abortion movement, of course, is that as long as the baby is in the mother’s womb, it is a “ fetus,” but then at the moment of birth, it magically transforms into a “baby.” Except, perhaps (as Obama’s indifference to terminology illustrates) if that baby was supposed to be dead, and was only born by “mistake” – in which case, it’s much more convenient to continue labeling it with the dehumanizing term “fetus.”
Whether or not you take Obama’s slip of the tongue as evidence of his support for infanticide, what is certain is that Obama, his campaign, and the media have deliberately hushed up his record on the Born Alive bill.
Since making his presidential run Obama has claimed that he “would have” voted for BAIPA if it had included a clause found in a federal version of the bill that stated the bill would have no effect on legal abortion. The only problem: Obama was presented with a state version that did have that clause, andhe still voted against it. In fact, Obama presided as the chair at a committee meeting where the clause was inserted into the bill. Almost immediately after it was inserted, he voted to kill the bill.
Obama did this at a time when even NARAL - one of the most extreme pro-abortion organizations in the country - had withdrawn its opposition to the federal version of the bill.
Even if you argue that Obama didn’t explicitly support infanticide, the fact is that he was so concerned about protecting abortion that he would turn a blind eye to infanticide in an effort to make sure that doctors could kill unborn babies up until the last minute possible.
If that’s not extreme, what is?
Here is a transcript of Obama’s remarks on BAIPA:
OBAMA: I just want to be clear because I think this was the source of the objections of the Medical Society. As I understand it, this puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child – however way you want to describe it – is now outside the mother’s womb and the doctor continues to think that its nonviable but there’s, lets say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just out limp and dead, they would then have to call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved. Is that correct?
OBAMA: Let me just go to the bill, very quickly. Essentially, I think, as — as this emerged during debate and during committee, the only plausible rationale, to my mind, for this legislation would be if you had a suspicion that a doctor, the attending physician, who has made an assessment that this is a nonviable fetus and that, lets say for the purposes of the mother’s health, is being — that — that labor is being induced, that that physician (a) is going to make the wrong assessment and (b) if the physician discovered, after the labor had been induced, that, in fact, he made an error, or she made an error, and, in fact, that that physician, of his own accord or her own accord, would not try to exercise the sort of medical measures and practices that would be involved in saving that child. Now, if — if you think that there are possibilities that doctors would not do that, then maybe this bill makes sense, but I — I suspect and my impression is, is that the Medical Society suspects as well that doctors feel that they would be under that obligation, that they would already be making these determinations and that, essentially, adding a — an additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion. Now, if that’s the case – and –and I know that some of us feel very strongly one way or another on that issue – that’s fine, but I think it’s important to understand that this issue ultimately is about abortion and not live births. Because if these children are being born alive, I, at least, have confidence that a doctor who is in that room is going to make sure that they’re looked after. Thank you, Mr. President.”