Ad asks Obama: ‘If fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?’

Washington D.C., Jul 1, 2008 / 00:18 am

A new advertisement from the Family Research Council’s lobbying arm, FRC Action, cites Sen. Barack Obama’s endorsement of fathers who “recognize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception” to press the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to defend his stand on abortion.

The 30-second television ad begins with a clip of Obama’s Father’s Day speech at a Chicago church in which the Illinois senator discussed the problem of absent black fathers. “We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't just end at conception,” he says in the clip.

The ad then shows commentary from FRC President Tony Perkins. Holding his squirming son Samuel in his arms, Perkins asks Obama “If, as you say, fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?”

Perkins says that, as a father of five himself, he thanks Obama for promoting fatherhood. Perkins then notes that Obama as a U.S. Senator voted to allocate taxpayer dollars to promote abortion in the United States and overseas.

In the ad the FRC president emphasizes the apparent contradiction between Obama’s pro-fatherhood and pro-abortion views, rhetorically asking “If I became a father at conception, when did Samuel here become my son?"

The advertisement aired on Friday in several cities across the United States. It is scheduled to be broadcast in Cincinnati and later in Dallas and Atlanta.

Sen. Obama has voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have protected from infanticide those children who survive abortion attempts. He has also promised to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which FRC Action says would “annihilate” every single state law limiting or regulating abortion, including the federal ban on partial birth abortion.

David Nammo, Executive Director of FRC Action, told CNA that there has been no official reaction to the advertisement from either Sen. Obama’s Campaign or the campaign of his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

Nammo said the FRC would like to see Obama acknowledge that life begins at conception and that fatherhood entails responsibility to the unborn. Further, the Family Research Council hopes Obama will renounce his support for taxpayer funding of abortions.

The FRC would also like to see Sen. McCain continue to speak strongly on family-related issues, such as his opposition to Roe v. Wade, Nammo told CNA.