Obama, Notre Dame, Abortion Protest.......

I have to confess..... It has taken me years ro reconcile this issue within myself.... But with all things maturity should come with age. That is not a given, but in my case once I had a child I understood more. I have repented of my sins and moved on. I pray that God opens his eyes so that he can see what he is really doing..... But every person has an opinion that they need to be able to live with. I can finally live with mine. P


Obama calls for 'fair-minded words'
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Slideshow:President Barack Obama Play Video Video:Michelle Obama inspires graduates Reuters Play Video Video:Obama's Graduation Address Sparks Protests ABC News Reuters – U.S. President Barack Obama addresses commencement ceremonies at the University of Notre Dame in South … Carol E. Lee Carol E. Lee – Sun May 17, 4:06 pm ET
SOUTH BEND, Indiana—President Barack Obama confronted the abortion debate head-on Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, acknowledging that differences over the issue are largely irreconcilable but appealing to both sides to search for “common ground.”

“I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,” Obama said in a commencement address he delivered at the Catholic university, after receiving an honorary degree. “Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it — indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory — the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.”

“Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction," Obama added. "But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”

Obama called for a new, more respectful tone on the issue, marked by “open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words.”

The remarks were the most direct ones he's given on abortion as president. It’s an issue he sought to downplay during his presidential campaign and since taking office. Obama’s appearance at the nation’s flagship Catholic university sparked weeks of protests.

While Obama received a warm welcome when he took the stage at the ceremony, he was less than five minutes into his remarks before police had escorted out three protesters. The vast majority of graduates in the Joyce Center chanted to drown the protests, showing that the president was in mostly friendly territory.

"You are a baby killer," one man continued to yell, at which point the crowd broke into a deafening chant: "We are N.D."

As the man was led out by police, Obama diverted from his prepared text to say, "We're not going to shy away from things that are uncomfortable sometimes.”

Yet for all the controversy around the speech, what the graduates and their families heard was a veritable echo of Obama’s past comments on the topic – an attempt to soften the rough edges of the polarizing debate. It’s an approach that served Obama well in the campaign, when he won support from some anti-abortion Catholics who found his more moderate tone on the issue appealing.

Notre Dame provost Thomas Burish said he thought Obama fared well in the face of controversy, delivering a speech the audience embraced and setting the tone for a conversation they want to continue.

“You heard the president say that we all wish there were fewer abortions, and I think that’s a common ground that we can all agree with,” Burish said in an interview.

But Obama has disappointed some anti-abortion Catholics with decisions as president that they view to be at odds with his more tempered language on abortion, such as lifting the ban on federal funding for overseas clinics that offer abortion counseling and reversing the Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

One of the protesters at Notre Dame, Jill Stanek, an anti-abortion blogger who did not support Obama, said the president’s speech sounded eerily familiar.


“It was just a regurgitation of things he’s said for a long time,” Stanek said. “He’s so good at expressing your point of view, so people are lulled into thinking he agrees with them, and he doesn’t. It’s just so typical Barack Obama.”

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090517/pl_politico/22611