My opinions on abortion are conflicted, but there’s something about what Barack Obama said today that bothers me a lot:
At a town hall meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon, Barack Obama told the crowd that he didn’t want his daughters, “punished with a baby”.
“When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include — which should include abstinence education and teaching the children — teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”
Yes, he was speaking off the cuff. And, no, I am not adamantly pro-life. But the idea that a child is a punishment is, well, an insult to those people who are struggling just to have a child of their own.
