Is Barack Obama a pure supporter of abortion rights?
Hillary Clinton and her supporters criticize him for opposing a bill by voting “present” instead of “no.” Obama’s defenders say the votes were a strategy to wrest a wedge issue away from Republicans. As the Democratic race has tightened, the Hillary Clinton campaign has portrayed Sen. Barack Obama as inconsistent on abortion rights. “In the Illinois state Senate, on issue after issue, my opponent voted ‘present,’ instead of yes or no. Seven of those votes were on a women’s right to choose,” Sen. Clinton said in a December 2007 speech in Iowa. In the days leading up to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, 2008, several other groups repeated the charge against Obama via e-mails. The facts here are not in dispute. Obama did vote present on seven bills that attempted to restrict abortion. His defenders argue that it was a tactic to disrupt legislation that would be used against Democrats in swing districts. It’s worth pausing here to explain what the “present” vote means. The Illinois Legislature allo
