Ministry Head: Obama Not Making Abortions Rare as Promised
Less than three months after a Focus on the Family director gave unexpected praise to the Obama administration, the ministry's president released an opinion piece that criticized the president for not delivering on his promise to make abortions rare.
Jim Daly, president and CEO of FOTF, recalled President Obama saying in many occasions that he wanted to work with pro-life groups to make abortions rare. But "his walk, unfortunately, has not matched his talk," Daly wrote in an opinion piece posted in U.S. News & World Report.
In May, Daly recalled, Obama stated in his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame:
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"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 carry their child to term."
But if Obama is serious about making abortions rare, Daly argued, the president should not have repealed the Mexico City policy, which bans federal funding to international groups that promote or perform abortions. He also should not have appointed "radical abortion advocate" and former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
And he should not be "forcing" Americans to pay for abortion as part of the health care reform package, Daly added.
The FOTF president's strong criticisms against President Obama – though mild compared to his predecessor Dr. James Dobson – comes months after one of the ministry's staff complimented the Obama administration for "really listening."
Kelly Rosati, senior director of FOTF's Sanctity of Human Life department, gave the praise after attending a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships event on adoption in May.
She reported that the administration was "really listening" and conveyed a desire to know how they could better serve the kids in the country's foster care system.
The compliment is thought to be the first time the conservative ministry had praised the Obama administration.
But in his writing, posted on Tuesday, Daly returned to the organization's traditional position of criticizing the liberal administration. He stated that Obama "has done little to make good on his promise" to reduce the number of abortions.
At the minimum, Daly said, the administration should promote policies ensuring a woman's informed consent before an abortion procedure is performed. Policies can include asking the woman if she wants to see an ultrasound of her child.
Another suggestion the ministry made is extending adoption tax credit to encourage families who want to adopt but worry about the costs.
"Those of us still inclined to engage in civil discourse on the matter would be wise to remember a quote regularly uttered by President Reagan in dealing with the Soviet Union: Doveryai, no proveryai. Trust, but verify," concluded the FOTF president.
