PRESS RELEASES from BornAliveTruth.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2008

Abortion survivor Gianna Jessen contrasts her struggle for life as a newborn with Barack Obama’s four votes opposing protections for babies born from failed abortions

Washington, DC – For the first time ever, an abortion survivor is featured in a new advertisement released today which takes issue with Senator Obama’s four votes against born alive protections when he was an Illinois state senator. The 30-second spot showcases Gianna Jessen, who explains to viewers that she survived an abortion attempt 31 years ago. Jessen then highlights Barack Obama’s four votes against the Illinois Born Alive Infant Defined Act, and asks him to support protections for infants who, like her, are born alive from failed abortion attempts.

Legislation identical to the proposed Illinois law was passed by the U.S. Senate (before Obama became a US Senator) by a vote of 98-0. This included even the most adamant pro-choice Senators.

“If Senator Barack Obama’s position against born alive protections were in place when I was born, I would not be here today. Senator Obama had the opportunity four times to vote to protect infants born from failed abortions and he chose not to. By voting against these protections, he was basically denying these living, breathing babies their most basic human right,” Jessen said.

In the ad, available online at www.BornAliveTruth.org, Jessen asks:

“Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name is Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion. I’m a survivor, as are many others…but if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn’t be here. Four times, Barack Obama voted to oppose a law to protect babies left to die after a failed abortion. Senator Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I’m living proof these babies have a right to live.”

“I want people to understand that there are babies born from failed abortions. No matter how they came to us, these babies are living and breathing human beings and deserve the same protections as the rest of us. Unfortunately, Barack Obama voted four times against affording these babies their most basic human right. I don’t trust Senator Obama on this issue given he voted against these protections four times as a state Senator. Just as abuse victims or rape victims share their stories to educate the public, fight for the common good and hope that as a result politicians do what’s right, I felt it was important to come forward and give these new born babies a voice,” Jessen concluded.

To interview Gianna Jessen, please contact Colleen O’Boyle (703) 683-5004 ext. 122 or Kristina Grabosky (908) 902-8473.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2008

 CHICAGO – BornAliveTruth.org Executive Director, Jill Stanek, today said Barack Obama hit a new low when he not only attacked an abortion survivor in a political advertisement airing in Ohio and New Mexico but then attempted to intimidate television stations airing the ad to take it down.

Senator Obama’s camp aggressively tried to censor abortion survivor Gianna Jessen by issuing threatening letters to television stations demanding that they pull the ad because, they said, it misrepresented Obama’s record,

”It is one thing to debate each other on campaign issues, but Barack Obama audaciously tried to silence and attack a person who survived her abortion after he, as an elected official, voted four times against legally protecting abortion survivors just like Gianna,” Mrs. Stanek said. “If it were up to Barack Obama, Gianna should have been left to die.“

However, by Obama’s own admission and record, when he was an IL state senator, he voted to deny necessary medical care for infants born after an abortion on four different occasions. He claimed at first he would have voted for the federal version of the bill had it been identical to the state version. But, indeed, they were identical as proven by the National Right to Life Committee and confirmed by FactCheck.org.

 “This is not some arcane tax topic or a complicated financial crisis, it is a simple issue – these are babies, living, breathing human beings, who deserve the same rights as the rest of us,” Stanek said. 

Obama’s new ad falsely claims that BornAliveTruth.org is taking his votes out of context when the opposite is true.

“A vote is a vote, you cannot take it out of context,” said Gianna Jessen, the abortion survivor featured in the ad. “Barack Obama voted four times against affording these babies their most basic human rights. I hope that rather than attacking me personally, he will redirect attention to born alive infants and protect their human rights.”

Senator Obama clearly misstated several “facts” in his ad attacking Gianna Jessen. Here are four:

Deception #1: Insinuating the BornAliveTruth.org Gianna ad was issued by the John McCain campaign.
Truth #1:BornAliveTruth.org's web address was displayed throughout the ad and included a written and audio disclaimer at the end stating that BornAliveTruth was responsible for the ad. McCain had nothing to do with it.

Deception #2:Insinuating journalists were calling BornAliveTruth.org's Gianna ad "one of the sleaziest ads... ever seen" and "truly vile."
Truth #2: Close scrutiny of the dates of those charges reveal they were actually leveled against McCain's ad criticizing Obama's support of comprehensive sex-ed for kindergartners in a Time magazine article and Washington Post story, both written on September 10, 2008, days before the Gianna ad began airing.

Deception #3: Obama stated in the ad he “has always supported medical care for infants.”
Truth #3: Obama voted four times against the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act. In fact, Obama voted against the identical version of Born Alive in Illinois on March 13, 2003, that passed unanimously on the federal level.

Deception #4: The Obama ad pulled a quote ("None of those who voted against SB-1082 favored infanticide.") from a September 5, 2008, Chicago Tribune letter to the editor by former state Sen. Rick Winkel, who sponsored Illinois’ Born Alive Act in 2003.  The Obama ad stated, "... accusing Obama of letting infants die? It's a despicable lie. Even the bill's Republican sponsor said it's untrue."
Truth #4: Obama took Winkel’s statement out of context. Winkel said, in full, “None of those who voted against SB-1082 favored infanticide. Rather their zeal for pro-choice dogma was clearly the overriding force behind their negative votes rather than concern that my bill would protect babies who are born alive.”

To speak with Jill Stanek or Gianna Jessen, please contact Arina Grossu or Kristina Hernandez at 703-683-5004.

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