Will all the liberals in the audience kindly take a valium and have a glass of chardonnay? So Obama said "it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother." That seems pretty close to what a majority of Americans would think is acceptable. Even most of those who strongly believe in a woman's right to close believe there is a point where only great physical danger, or extraordinary mental stress, would allow abortions late in the third-term. (The trick as The Mahablog notes, is defining when "late third-term start.")
But Obama's statement totally supports the original Roe v Wade decision, except that Obama is a bit more dubious about the "mental stress" exception. Liberals might not like that, but Obama's position on abortion in the first two trimesters appears to be totally in tune with the vast majority of Democrats.
So chill out.
Real Politik Point: It amazes me how liberals and conservatives want ideological purity in their candidates. What excites the "average" voter the most about this election is that you have two candidates that defy traditional labels. Obama and McCain are more like the vast majority of voters themselves - they lean liberal or conservative, but there are issues where they defy these labels, or even swing entirely the other way. The 20 percent of the electorate that is really liberal and the 20 percent that is really conservative don't like it. But the 60 percent in the middle seem to think it's OK.
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