Washington D.C., Feb 20, 2008 / 07:16 pm (CNA).- Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama has been endorsed by Frances Kissling, the former president of the pro-abortion group Catholics for a Free Choice. 

In an article written for the Huffington Post, Kissling defended her endorsement of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton saying that his presidency would finish the “social transformation” begun by the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

 "While I believe in the nitty gritty of a day-to-day legislative agenda, there will be little difference between Clinton and Obama, I am convinced that in the larger struggle to complete the social transformation promised by Roe, Obama's instincts and values will bring us closer to that transformation," Kissling said.

Kissling broke ranks with other feminists who favor abortion rights but have endorsed New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.  She said that both candidates would appoint Supreme Court justices who favor Roe v. Wade, overturn the Mexico City policy that forbids funding for non-governmental organizations that also perform abortions, and restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which lost US funding after its co-operation with coerced abortions in China was exposed.

Kissling said that Clinton had “more than once failed the movement” for abortion rights, such as when Senator Clinton did not include abortion coverage in her 1994 health care reform plan.  She also disliked Clinton’s support for laws permitting objecting health professionals to refuse to provide services they consider immoral.  Kissling wanted to know whether her present universal health care program “will give religious organizations the right to refuse to provide services they consider 'immoral' - emergency contraception, voluntary sterilization, condoms to prevent HIV, and assisted reproduction come to mind.”

Senator Obama, Kissling thought, would transform American culture and solidify support for legalized abortion.

"It is no longer about 'winning, the culture war. It is about completing the social transformation that Roe began but did not solidify," Kissling concluded. "That task, I believe, will best be accomplished by a president who sees her or his role as calling us to greatness ... I think Barack Obama is the person who can do that," she said.

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