Obama Acknowledges that Life Begins at Conception

In a speech on Father's Day last June, then candidate Obama spoke, I will admit, rather eloquently about the responsibility of fathers in the lives of children. In reality, this is a speech that social conservatives have been giving for decades, but, to be fair, I give the President credit for saying what needs to be said: the presence of fathers aids the successful development of children.

Here is a bit of Mr. Obama's speech:

Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more afterschool programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities.

But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child - it's the courage to raise one. (source: Huffington Post, June 15, 2008)

Importantly, Mr. Obama warns that "we need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception." Yes, Mr. President, fatherhood begins at conception because life begins at conception. Fathers must support their babies while they grow in their mother's wombs, and continue support them after the baby's birth.

I hope that Mr. Obama's acknowledgment that a father's responsibility begins at conception when his baby's life begins will inform his policy choices. I am not hopeful.