NOTRE DAME

Obama Takes On Abortion

Calls for "common ground" on the issue.

Student arrests, marches, and overnight vigils? Sounds like the '60s, but no, that would be anti-abortion students protesting President Obama’s commencement speech and honorary law degree Sunday at Notre Dame. The president’s pro-choice politics—he supports the right to choose, though has said he would like to minimize abortions—has caused immense controversy at the Catholic university. Still, the president was greeted with cheers and a prolonged ovation when he arrived at the commencement. He addressed abortion head-on during his speech (which was interrupted by a few hecklers), saying: “I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it—indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory—the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.” But he added: “Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”