Yes He Did! Obama Speaks About Roe Anniversary

Sorted under reproductive rights on January 22, 2009

A lot of people were skeptical as to whether or not Barack Obama would make a public comment about this day being the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. As an open and passionate pro-choice president, I was hoping for Obama to make a statement, but as the day rolled on and the pro-choice festivities continued, I didn’t hear about Obama making a public statement.

To my delight, and I am sure many others out there, President Barack Obama did make a public statement about the anniversary of this monumental day for women and women’s reproductive health and freedom:

On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.

While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.

On this anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our sons: the chance to attain a world-class education; to have fulfilling careers in any industry; to be treated fairly and paid equally for their work; and to have no limits on their dreams. That is what I want for women everywhere.

As I read this statement I was filled with an overwhelming sense of pride. I am proud that I live in a time where I have access to reproductive health care and with reproductive health care clinics like Planned Parenthood, if I cannot afford their services, I am not penalized by being turned away. I am proud that 36 years ago women were given the right to choose and I am proud that 36 years later women as well as men are still recognizing and celebrating this day because the anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a call for celebration; this is our reproductive freedom and the right to choose and to have control over our own lives and our own bodies that we’re talking about. But most of all, I am proud of and truly grateful for every women and every man who stood up for what they believed in, who stood up for women and who made this day possible. And lastly, I am proud to have a president who feels as passionately about this day as I do.



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  • He's on the move right away, that's the quality he has(Obama).
  • Laura
    News flash...if you don't want an unintended pregnancy, don't have sex!!!! Sex=responsibilities! If you are not ready for babies, don't have sex! I had to learn that lesson the hard way! WE live in a society that wants to give into its impulses...do whatever we want and then not live with the consequences...a baby is not a bad consequence! Did anyone ever consider adoption...there is open adoption if a girl/woman wants to see her baby. Why kill a child when there are BETTER alternatives?
  • Yes, there are alternatives to abortion. You could put that baby up for adoption and then have that child live their entire lives knowing that they were unwanted, live in the foster care system until they are 18 and then dumped out on the streets without a real education, without real and loving parents who could have taught that child a little about life and what to expect when they get out in the big, bad world, and who knows what could happen to that child afterward. While you may feel better about giving a child up for adoption, the lives that children in the foster care system live are hardly lives at all. But hey, they don't throw those facts down your throat when they're telling you that abortion is bad and kills babies and hurts women, right?

    When it comes to people wanting to be foster parents and/or adopt children, the system is corrupt in the fact that they will not let loving people who could give these children a real life do so because they either aren't extremely wealthy or they happen to be gay. The system is letting more and more children down by putting these ramifications on people who want to adopt and making them live up to seemingly impossible standards.
  • It was time to have such a president ! Obama rules.
  • Craig
    Yes - women have the right to allow their babies to be torn from their womb prematurely; to allow the babies brain to be punctured with a sharp metal instrument; and, to allow the babies brain to be ton tear it limb from limb. Women also have the right to choose whether they get pregnant in the first place.
  • Laura
    I agree with you Craig!!! I regret my abortion...that is what us post-abortive women are trying to get out there!
  • Spoken like a true man who has never and will never be pregnant. Way to go, you're much like most of the pro-life populace in the respect that you have a dick.

    Most abortions are performed in cases of women who are married and are already mothers to one child or more and pregnancy can happen even when you are using protection. Birth control pills are effective, but not 100% and it's the same with condoms; plus condoms break, fall off, aren't put on right in the first place and so on. There are many pregnancy factors even when you believe you are protecting yourself to the best of your ability.

    But you knew that, right?
  • Laura
    Practicing Catholics do not believe in contraception...we abstain even within marriage to avoid pregnancy and if we become pregnant anyway, we give birth rather than destroy lives!!!! I became Catholic years after my abortion and received healing...to those who are post-abortive and are defending their decision to try to feel better about what you've done...please let down your guard and let the love of God into your hearts!
  • Laura
    Oh, yes, I am now married with a beautiful baby girl...my husband and I look forward to many more children! We do abstain while I am fertile, but if I got pregnant, I would be so happy!!!!!
  • Obama is wasting no time and I'm loving it. He is coming in strong and letting people know that he means business. I am so happy to be an American right now and look forward to all the changes to come.
  • The man is amazing, and his demeanor and poise do nothing less than assure the American people that the country is moving in the right direction.
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