Transcend politics? Obama didn’t

One of Barack Obama's charms is that he promises to move beyond politics. He transcends old labels, he's said for two years, attracting Republicans and healing schisms. He promises peace and unity. He says he's post-political.

How nice. Yet how has this translated during his scant legislative career? One telling episode offers insight.

In 2000, the matter of infants who survive a particular sort of abortion became an issue. A nurse in suburban Chicago told of how induced labor abortions can "fail," producing a live newborn. These were left gasping for air, sometimes for hours, until they died.

This was happening rarely but often enough to shock people, including lawmakers. The question became this: Since the mother's aim of being no longer pregnant was accomplished, shouldn't the surviving child at least be treated with the care given any other human?

Well, yes. Congress so decided in 2002, approving the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, unanimously in the Senate. Among its supporters was Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a down-the-line foe of any restriction on abortion who nonetheless urged a unanimous vote for the bill.
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That's because the issue isn't really about abortion. Those who brought the practice to light generally were opposed to abortion, but when critics said the bill could grant some sort of legal personhood and, thus, put any right to abortion into jeopardy, backers added phrases expressly ruling that out. This satisfied Boxer and all other senators.

The issue also came up in the Illinois General Assembly in 2001, 2002 and 2003, where a similar bill ran into opposition from, among others, Obama, then a state senator. He has since explained that he'd have backed the measure if it had language safeguarding abortion.

But it did. Backers of the Illinois bill in 2003 added language identical to the federal law. Obama voted no anyway. When confronted in August, he said the Illinois clause differed from the federal one. Then someone dug up the legislative records: There is no difference. Obama's explanations then lapsed into incoherence.

I do not think that Obama is an inhumane man, relishing the death of abortion survivors. He no doubt feels for them.

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