At last night’s GOP debate, Newt Gingrich played his usual “attack the debate host” game, and criticized the “elite media” for questioning Republican candidates on birth control when (so he claims) “you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. So let’s be clear here. If we’re going to debate about who is the extremist on this issues, it is President Obama, who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion.”
Not so fast Mr. Historian. You’re lying, says the National Journal — hardly a liberal publication, which states “the media, including CNN, reported on and discussed Obama’s opposition to the legislation during his 2008 presidential campaign.”
Gingrich was presumably referencing Obama’s opposition to Illinois’ proposed version of a “born alive†law, intended to require doctors to administer immediate medical care to any infant that survived an intended abortion.
According to Politifact, an independent fact-checking organization that looked into similar claims made by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum on the campaign trail, Obama voiced his opposition to the new legislation as a state senator because it would have given legal status to fetuses and would thus have been struck down by the courts, and because Illinois already had laws to ensure infants who survived abortions would be given medical attention.
And Politics USA adds even more:
This is a favorite lie of the right. It was first raised by Obama’s opponent in the 2004 Senate race, Alan Keyes. The truth is that Obama never voted for infanticide. Obama voted against the bill because it was a backdoor to banning abortion. As FackCheck.org wrote, “Obama’s critics are free to speculate on his motives for voting against the bills, and postulate a lack of concern for babies’ welfare. But his stated reasons for opposing “born-alive†bills have to do with preserving abortion rights, a position he is known to support and has never hidden.â€
Lies, hate, bigotry, hypocrisy. Newt Gingrich.
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