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Engage Obama or fight him? Law professors discuss his abortion stance
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- While agreeing that abortion is unacceptable, two pro-life professors disagreed on whether it is appropriate to engage President Barack Obama on the issue of abortion or to insist that it be outlawed in order to protect the dignity of the unborn. In a discussion May 28 at the National Press Club, Douglas Kmiec, professor of law at Pepperdine University and an Obama supporter, said the new administration's promise to fund abortion alternatives and its proposals for new social and economic policies would sooner reach the goal of fewer abortions. Joining with the Obama White House to address the common good would be the more prudent step for Catholics, Kmiec said. However, Robert George, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, even while acknowledging that he and Kmiec hold the same views on life issues, challenged the Pepperdine professor saying that if Obama truly wants to seek common ground, he would support several key policies that would discourage abortion. George said proposals to ban partial-birth and sex-selection abortion, end abortions during the second and third trimesters and enact waiting periods, informed consent laws and parental consent laws all have been rejected by Obama administration officials.
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