Obama and Abortion - Time (did) Tell

Thanks to Justin Taylor for this:

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, has an important article in the latest Weekly Standard on the Obama Administration and abortion.

The big point:

. . . [T]he bottom line for Barack Obama is clear. After making a few polite noises about finding "common ground" with pro-lifers, his administration has shown zero interest in doing so. Instead, the Obama agenda is to weave government-backed abortion into the fabric of American life and make it a far more integral part of domestic and foreign policy than ever before.

Specifically, she looks at the health reform bill coming down the pike:

Clearly, if Obama's preferred health reform becomes law, abortion will be defined as a "health benefit" automatically provided to every American family. The Hyde amendment, which for more than 30 years has banned federal funding for almost all abortions and has enjoyed overwhelming congressional support, will become all but irrelevant once abortion on demand is defined as a universal "health benefit."

She also discusses the President's endorsement of repealing the Dornan amendment, thus allowing Washington DC to spend government money on abortions (which hasn't happened since 1995).

Here's her conclusion:

Why is Obama pushing ahead with such a radical abortion agenda? Since there's no way to accuse him of doing it out of poll-driven opportunism, sincere conviction becomes the most plausible motive. Sometimes the simplest, most straightforward answer makes the most sense. A president who once said he wouldn't want his daughter punished with a baby if she made a mistake is deeply committed to making free and easy access to abortion an inescapable element of American culture.