As negotiations continue, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has passed a last-minute funding extension that would avert a government shutdown. Meanwhile, President Obama has issued a blunt statement promising to veto the extension. Close reading of the White House statement though reveals that Obama objects to one key policy rider attached to the extension (emphasis added):
The word “clean” is the Obama Administration’s code word for Republican proposals to ban taxpayer funding of abortions. Indeed, a look at the provisions of the extension bill reveals nothing objectionable except for the abortion funding ban. Also, contrary to the White House statement, negotiations are making progress toward a final deal, and a top Democrat has said that he now sees a “glimmer of hope” that a shutdown can be avoided.
President Obama’s insistence on abortion funding provides a stark contrast to the now-infamous comments he made on the campaign trail at the Saddleback Church when he said that the morality of abortion was “above his pay grade.” Then, again in the last moments of the rancorous health care debates, Obama held out the promise of a phony ban on abortion funding to bring erstwhile Congressman Bart Stupak and several other Democrats in line to support ObamaCare.
If the government is shutdown at midnight on Friday, at least we as a nation will finally have a clear answer from Obama where he stands on abortion. One single policy rider that would have had a negligible effect on slowing the rate of abortions is so important to him that he is threatening to shutdown the entire federal government. This is a position that may appeal to his base, but it will not win over the vast majority of Americans who oppose the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion funding.
