And, just like Daniel, he comes out unscathed!
To be fair, there was never any doubt that President Obama would be cheered more than jeered at Notre Dame. After all, despite the media hype about abortion, he could have begun his commencement address there yesterday by paraphrasing the way he began his speech at the Washington Correspondents’ Dinner a week earlier, when he said:
Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me. Apologies to the Fox table.
In this case, he could have said:
Most of you disagree with me on abortion. All of you wanted me to be here today. Apologies to that one rabid soul yelping up there in the nose-bleed section.
All the same, it must have settled what little nerves Obama might have had when The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, introduced him by conceding that far too much media attention has been focused on the university’s invitation and not enough on the fact that the president accepted it.
In any event, it might be helpful to recall the seminal speech Obama gave on race during last year’s presidential campaign. Because he distilled and reconciled (to the fullest extent possible) all of the arguments involved in this most contentious issue like no other politician ever had. And there’s no denying that he did the same in the seminal speech he gave on abortion yesterday at Notre Dame.
Specifically, here are the key passages that I believe should settle the abortion debate … at least for the duration of his presidency:
We must find a way to live together as one human family. And it’s this last challenge that I’d like to talk about today…
Those who speak out against stem cell research may be rooted in an admirable conviction about the sacredness of life, but so are the parents of a child with juvenile diabetes who are convinced that their son’s or daughter’s hardships can be relieved…
How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without, as Father John said, demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side? And of course, nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion…
Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions.
So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let’s reduce unintended pregnancies. Let’s make adoption more available. Let’s provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women.” Those are things we can do…
While we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.
Enough said!
Indeed, nothing demonstrates how authoritative Obama’s speech was quite like the fact that the Vatican has been conspicuously silent in the wake of his pronouncements on abortion.
Related commentary:
Washington Correspondents’ Dinner
Obama’s seminal speech on race
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