After President Obama's speech at the University of Notre Dame, I was shocked at the amount of attention the event received. Obama stated he would not delve too deep into the issue of abortion; up until now, he's avoided strong confrontation on the subject. But amidst anti-abortion protesters at the 2009 University of Notre Dame commencement ceremony and the gruesome signs they held displaying pictures of aborted fetuses, Obama decided to ad lib, hoping to bring together two extremely polarized groups.
"Maybe we won't agree on abortion," the President addressed the crowd of graduates, faculty, and family members, “but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually."
"So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions. Let’s reduce unintended pregnancies. Let’s make adoption more available. Let’s provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term.”
While the church does take a clear stance against abortion, the university said President Obama is in line with many of the Catholic church's principles. The President is working hard to open dialogue with foreign nations, he's working on a timeline to bring troops home, and is also working to end nuclear proliferation. The university stated that despite his stance on abortion, he's also working to end unwanted pregnancies, which should be the larger goal no matter which side of the debate you're on.
The Roman Catholic university faced heat for the decision to give President Obama an honorary degree, a president whose pro-choice and pro-stem cell stance goes against Catholic teachings. Protesters began heckling the President when brought on stage, shouting things like "baby killer" and "abortion is murder." The crowd then responded by shouting the President's campaign slogan "Yes, we can," and the university's chant "We are N.D."
Though the university received criticism from many pro-life enthusiasts and religious pundits about the President's honorary degree, a CNN poll showed that 60 percent of Catholic voters believe the degree should not be rescinded. Over voters as a whole, 56 percent were against the school rescinding the President's invitation.
As a (somewhat) devout Catholic, I have to admit that the opposition facing President Obama over the abortion issue is absurd. Many of the Catholic teachings are out-of-date and out-of-sync with the technological advancements that have taken place in the last century. Enacting pro-life legislation that's in line with the Catholic church puts the lives of women and their unborn fetuses at risk, potentially raising the number of dangerous back-alley abortions. Although Obama is pro-choice, he believes abortion should be the last option for a woman. He also understands that there are exceptional cases that may call for abortion.
In any case, as Amy Poehler stated on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, "honorary degrees carry all the gravitas of a number one dad coffee mug." So what's the big deal? There should be greater dissent at the fact that Arizona State University didn't award President Obama with an honorary degree because he has "not done enough." Really?!?! I mean, come on!
At Notre Dame, Obama Calls for Civil Tone in Abortion Debate
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/us/politics/18obama.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=At%20Notre%20Dame,%20Obama%20Calls%20for%20Civil%20Tone%20in%20Abortion%20Debate&st=cse&scp=1
Obama Faces Notre Dame Speech Backlash
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/15/obama.notre.dame/
Polls show majority back Notre Dame's Obama invite
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/14/poll-shows-majority-back-notre-dames-obama-invite/
SNL's Really!?! with Seth and Amy
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/snls-really-no-honorary-degree-president-obama
No comments:
Post a Comment