Washington D.C., Jul 4, 2008 / 14:27 pm
Political analyst Deal Hudson has argued that supporters of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, are misrepresenting or even denying Obama’s support for “infanticide.” Hudson charges the Senator with supporting infanticide through his opposition to protections for infants who survive abortion attempts.
Writing on InsideCatholic.com, Hudson cites Obama’s opposition to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), which was first introduced into the Illinois legislature in 2001 after nurse Jill Stanek reported that babies who were born alive after abortion attempts at Christ Hospital in Illinois were left to die without attention from medical personnel.
During Stanek’s testimony before the Illinois legislature’s Judiciary Committee, on which then-state Senator Barack Obama sat, Obama asked whether the bill would subvert a woman’s right to an abortion. According to Hudson, Obama voted against the bill in committee but voted “present” on the Illinois Senate floor.
The bill was defeated, but reintroduced in 2002. That year, Obama again voted against the BAIPA legislation in committee. In the full Senate vote, Obama voted “no” and led the opposition to the bill.