Indeed our debonair young Commander-in-Chief sees the world through the murkiest of gray-colored glasses. Though evidence of this abounds, I can think of no starker example than his opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
Born Alive very simply requires that when a baby survives an attempted abortion – when she is “born alive” – further attempts to kill her must immediately cease and steps must be taken to save her life.
In 2002, Born Alive passed the U.S. Senate with unanimous, bipartisan support. Yet Obama, while serving in the Illinois Senate, vehemently opposed its Illinois twin. He complained that “adding an additional doctor” (read: an actual doctor) to save the child’s life is “really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the physician to induce labor and perform an abortion.”
Did you get that? To require that a doctor save the child survivor of a botched abortion would “burden the original decision” of the mother to kill her baby. The not-so-subtle implication, of course, is that they should, instead, put her aside until she dies. Or – as I attempt to hone that moral clarity, passé though it may be – deliberately kill her through wanton neglect.
This is infanticide by any objective measure; but not to the moral relativist, and not to Barack Obama. There is no such thing as an “objective measure,” you see, only a subjective “choice.”
So here it is in black and white: Black: It’s always wrong to kill babies. White: Doctors should make every effort to save the life of babies born alive. Gray: To require such would “burden the original decision” of a mother to kill her baby.
Black: It’s always wrong to kill peaceful protesters. White: The U.S. demands the killing stop or we will stop it. Gray: We’re monitoring the situation to see how it plays out.
Then again, I ask: Why should we expect moral clarity from this president? How can we expect him to value the lives of innocent Iranians halfway around the world when he doesn’t even value the lives of the most innocent of his fellow citizens?
We can’t.
But we can hold him accountable for it.
Matt Barber is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action. Send comments to Matt at jmattbarber@comcast.net. (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)