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Obama’s ‘baby’ comment draws fire from conservatives |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 03/31/08 05:35 PM [ET] |
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Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) campaign on Monday sought to clarify remarks the Democratic front-runner made on teen pregnancies that had drawn criticism from conservatives. Speaking about sex education at an event in Pennsylvania Saturday, Obama said, according to the Christian Broadcasting Network, that he will educate his young daughters 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.” Conservative talker Sean Hannity mentioned the quotes on his radio show Monday, and several conservative blogs have reacted harshly to the statement. Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman, sought to clarify the senator’s comments in an e-mail to The Hill Monday afternoon. "What Sen. Obama said and what he believes is clear — children are ‘miracles,’ but we have a problem when so many children are having children,” Vietor said. “As Sen. Obama said on Saturday — and on many other occasions — parents have a responsibility to teach their children about values and morals to help make sure they are not treating sex casually. And while he understands the passions on both sides of this difficult issue, Sen. Obama believes we can all agree that we should be taking steps to reduce the number of teen pregnancies and abortions in this country.” |
