From President to President

Moral views are very telling about a person, that's because people act and think most deeply from their moral conclusions. President's are no different. Obama, in his speech a few weeks ago to Notre Dame, addresses the topic of abortion again, rhetorically placing himself in the middle but not differentiating himself at all from extreme pro-choice positions in actuality. Some excerpts:

The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with
wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege
in the face of poverty and injustice. And so, for all our technology and
scientific advances, we see here in this country and around the globe violence
and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient
times. (strong words that I wish he would actually believe as it respects
abortion, because in that case the strong always dominate the weak).

[A doctor] wrote, "I do not ask at this point that you oppose
abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words."
Fair-minded words.

After I read the doctor's letter, I wrote
back to him and I thanked him. And I didn't change my underlying
position (emphasis mine), but I did tell my staff to change the words
on my website. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same
presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because
when we do that -- when we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not
think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe -- that's when
we discover at least the possibility of common ground.

That's when
we begin to say, "Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that
this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both
moral and spiritual dimensions.

So let us work together to reduce
the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies.
(Applause.) Let's make adoption more available. (Applause.) Let's provide care
and support for women who do carry their children to term. (Applause.) Let's
honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible
conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are
grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect
for the equality of women." Those are things we can do. (Applause.)

Yet, these things he is not doing nor does he wish to do because he'd lose his democratic base. Obama overturned the Mexico City Policy which now makes it legal to fund abortion overseas. He wanted to put money for "family planning" services in the stimulus bill because that would reduce healthcare costs. Obama sees most issues through the lens of politics, expediency, and pragmatics. It seems to Obama, that common ground is where ethics comes from, instead of eternal, moral truth. He speaks nice sounding words, but in the end his rhetoric is empty. Contrast that with Ronald Reagan's words in Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, a book written in his 3rd year in office. Some excerpts:

Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the
Constitution. No serious scholar... has argued that the framers of the
Constitution intended to create such a right.

We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life-the unborn-
without diminishing the value of all human life.

Over the first two years of my administration I have closely followed
and assisted efforts in Congress to reverse the tide of abortion- efforts of
congressmen, senators and citizens responding to an urgent moral
crisis.

Despite the formidable obstacles before us, we must not lose
heart. This is not the first time our country has been divided by a
Supreme Court decision [Roe] that denied the value of certain human lives.
The Dred Scott decision of 1857 was not overturned in one day, or a year, or
even a decade. At first, only a minority of Americans recognized and
deplored the moral crisis brought about by denying the full humanity of our
black brothers and sisters; but that minority persisted in their vision and
finally prevailed.

I am convinced that Americans do not want to play God with the value of
human life. It is not for us to decide who is worthy to live and who is
not.

I have endorsed each of these measures (congressional bills), as well
as the more difficult route of a constitutional amendment, and I will give these
initiatives my full support.

Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land
when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should
therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when
some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to
abortion or infanticide. My administration is dedicated to the
preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for
preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all
human beings, the right without which no other rights have any
meaning.

Obama is a moral midget compared to Reagan. He needs to believe in the truth that government can prevent murder and has a stake in justice. Reagan did, and we must remember his words not to lose hope.