Catholics for Obama-Biden, a program created by Catholic Democrats for the 2008 presidential elections, explained then the outcomes of President Obama’s healthcare reform legislation that went into effect early 2010:
Is Barack Obama Really Pro-Life? The answer is “yes.” Looking through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, Senator Obama has spent his entire career striving for the common good. He supports health care programs that will cover all Americans, a living wage for working families, and solutions that allow distressed families to stay in their homes. And rather than trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, an ineffective strategy for 40 years, Senator Obama will reduce abortions. How? By promoting health care for pregnant women and better infant care, day care and job training. In fact, data has shown that social and education programs actually reduce abortions.
It’s a fact that providing women the reproductive healthcare options they need to function as individual agents of their own body leads to responsible sexual choices and less unwanted pregnancies.
President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been a fiscal slap in the face to drug manufacturers and health insurance companies that capitalize on meager economic conditions by profiting on people’s need for healthcare, providing legislative support to people who could not afford healthcare, were denied healthcare, and who hide their sexist agendas against female choice and autonomy behind their religious views. For hypocritical “pro-lifers,” the PPACA meant abortions would ruin our country because morning-after and birth control pills would be covered by their employers. This forever framed Democrats as the enemies of “pro-life” groups and harbingers of abortion-causing satan-worshipping policies.
When I heard that Mitt Romney was “very pro-life” by a conservative colleague of mine I brought up what the wishy-washy candidate said in 1994:
“I had a dear, close family relative that was very close to me who passed away from an illegal abortion. We will not force our beliefs on others. And you will not see me wavering on that.”
Source: CivilLiberty.about.com profile of Romney , Dec 1, 2006
Just like in the 1980s, the evangelical vote is once again key to political dialogue. With religion so ingrained in nationalistic rhetoric it’s no wonder why Mitt Romney has time and time again proclaimed that he is indeed a super-duper pro-life American. What strikes me as odd, though, is that someone who is pro-war and encourages entire cities to go bankrupt would say he is “pro-life.”
But I don’t need to address the hypocrisy behind supporting legislation that removes women’s internal reproductive power and places it in the hands of the courts, endorsing bans on reproductive health because someone isn’t having sex the way you want them to, denouncing programs that feed and clothe the children you fought so hard to get into this world, and then support them going off to die to support economic interests abroad.
If you want to call yourself pro-life, fine. But if you want to vote for a pro-life candidate, vote for Obama.