Obama at Notre Dame | 05/18/2009 8:40 am
Obama Confronts Abortion Controversy at Notre Dame (Video)

From pro-life demonstrations before his arrival to hecklers during his speech, Barack Obama’s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame seemed like it could have been explosive, but the president did his best to soothe controversy.
As a pro-choice Democrat speaking at a Catholic university, some students, faculty and parents felt his support of abortion rights was a conflict of interest to church teachings. Speaking in front of an estimated 12,000 graduates, Obama expressed his gratitude to be there, his views on the world economy and, yes, the abortion debate.
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 casually made, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions.’ So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women, who do not carry their child to term.
The president also urged people to approach the debate with an "open heart," for "when we open our hearts and our minds to those who might not think precisely like we do or precisely what we believe — that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground."
Watch Obama’s commencement speech, which aired on Fox News, via YouTube (Part one):
Watch Obama’s commencement speech, which aired on Fox News, via YouTube (Part two):
Tell us: What do you think of President Barack Obama’s commencement speech?























324 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Since the pro-choice folks want to dismiss the recent abortion poll because of "sampling size", does that mean those of us on the right can dismiss the polls showing Obama’s 60% approval rating for the same reasons? Rasmussen has conducted this poll for many years. This is the first time pro-life has dominated. I wonder if you pro-choice folks embraced this same poll in August when the pro-choice % was 50 and pro-life was 44%?
Maybe people are using logic and realizing what abortion really is. All of us passed through the gestation stage of development or we wouldn’t be here today. Is it any less agregious to kill a baby than a 10 year old? Or to kill a 12 year old than an adult? All humans pass through all of these stages of development, hopefully, but they are humans through every stage.
We know that making something legal does not make it morally acceptable. If abortion was illegal, there would still be abortions, just not as many. Similar to murder—it is illegal, yet murder still occurs. What if we made murder legal—do you think there would be or less murders? If there are no consequences to your actions, then you are less apt to comply, that what society is for—to uphold our consciences.
and what would outlawing abortion do, excatly, that would uphold our consciences?
I applaud the President for going to Notre Dame and discussing the issue of differing stands on abortion. How sad that some could not listen with respect to what the President had to say.
After all, he was invited there to speak and share his wisdom and knowledge with the graduating class.
Mahulda…I think that is true as well. The problem is that not very many abortions are due to the compromised life of the mother. There are certain medical reasons for abortions, certainly…yes.
However, in the case of rape….how is that proved? Can you imagine the cases against men just to prove it was rape? Enough women lie about that as it is. Yes they do…better to be a victim of rape than to be seen as a sexually active individual.
That is the problem with abortion. It IS used as birth control. Strict guidelines need to be in place. Medical guidelines. There are CONDOMS and the MORNING AFTER PILL.
No more excuses……people are sick and tired of the excuses for murder.
Medical situations are a separate issue altogether for many of us.