Just came across this solid legal research and analysis by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).

The NRLC uncovered something that I missed.  I originally stated that Barack Obama did not vote against a BAIPA bill with a preservation clause because the three bills on which he did vote – 92-1095, 92-1662, and 93-1082 – did not contain preservation clauses.  What I apparently missed is that SB 93-1082 was later amended to include a preservation clause, after which Obama did vote against it, contrary to his claim.

NRLC lays out all of the facts in detail and even has links to some of the legislative documents that are not available online.  For example, here is a PDF of the amendment to SB 93-1082, which shows that the preservation clause was added.  And here is a PDF that shows Obama’s committee votes on that amended bill.  Here is a picture of the same.

Senate Bill 93-1082 votes

Senate Bill 93-1082 votes

I need to make clear that I have not fully repeated the NRLC’s research steps, e.g., ordering a full bill folder from the Illinois General Assembly Archives department.  But as far as I can tell, everything matches up.  For instance, the date of the document in the image is March 12, 2003, which corresponds to after the bill was amended.  See the history of the bill here.

Hats off to the NRLC for its excellent research.  I’ll try to further verify these findings when I get a chance.

But for those who’d like a short summary of what this all means:

  1. Obama voted against several bills that would mandate medical care for infants who survive abortions.
  2. Obama claims that the only reason he voted against these bills was because they did not contain a clause that guaranteed that the law could not be used to prohibit abortions (a “preservation clause”).  Obama claims that if any of the bills had contained a preservation clause, he would have voted for them.
  3. Senate Bill 93-1082, after it was amended, did in fact contain a preservation clause.
  4. But Obama voted against SB 93-1082 anyway.
  5. Obama lied about his reason for voting against the Illinois bills.

Related Posts:

  1. Why Obama Voted Against the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
  2. Obama’s Specious Rationale for Voting against the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
  3. Obama’s Statements on Illinois Senate Bills 92-1093, 92-1094, and 92-1095
  4. The Illinois Analogs to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act III
  5. The Illinois Analogs to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act II
  6. The Illinois Analogs to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
  7. The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002