Barack Obama, Gianna Jessen and the Lives of Infant Abortion Survivors

Gianna Jessen, a 31 year old survivor of a failed abortion attempt in the late seventies appeared in an ad produced by BornAliveTruth.org, an independent 527 organization, taking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to task for his multiple votes against legislation to protect infant survivors of abortion.



Here is the ad that Obama's campaign put up in response to the Gianna Jessen ad.



Notice how the Obama ad includes a very small and brief video clip (no audio) of Jessen while attempting to blame his Republican opponent John McCain for a supposedly misleading and 'sleazy' ad. But that description more aptly describes Obama's ad on several counts. First, John McCain's campaign did not produce the original ad. An independent 527 organization did. Second, the Jessen ad is not misleading. Obama did vote several times to oppose the protective legislation and did not vote for it. Finally, Obama's ad is trying to have it both ways. By fleetingly using Gianna Jessen's video image, it is trying to vaguely remind viewers of the original ad without reminding them of the details or even of Jessen's identity.

This last point is significant, because Gianna Jessen's very existence is a threat to Obama's position and abysmal record on protecting infant abortion survivors. This issue touches on the deepest meaning of where our society stands on protecting innocent human life and Barack Obama is playing with fire by attempting this kind of deception to divert attention from the truth.