I write this diary in response to a recommended diary.
In 1997, Republicans and Democrats were debating the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" Ban Act. Opponents of the bill, who felt the bill needed a life and health exception, offered two amendments to the bill. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) offered a more broad health exception amendment -- which permitted doctors to perform the practice when it was medically necessary to avert "serious adverse health consequences." Then-Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) offered a more narrow "grevious physical injury" exception to legally performing so-called "partial-birth" abortions.
Some liberal Democrats, including Sens. Russ Feingold (Wis.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa), found the "serious adverse health consequences" exception to be too broad, and voted against the Feinstein amendment, but supported the more narrow "grevious physical injury" exception in the Daschle amendment. Both amendments failed.
At the end of the day, however, Sens. Feingold, Harkin, and others voted against the underlying bill because it lacked a health exception. President Clinton vetoed the bill because it lacked this health exception. My sense is that Sen. Obama shares the Feingold position that the "serious adverse health consequences" exception is too broad, but the more narrow "grevious physical injury" exception is better. At the end of the day, however, Barack Obama clearly would have voted against the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" bill without either of these two health exceptions.
In 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Nebraska's so-called "partial-birth" abortion statute (which was overruled seven years later), Justice O'Connor wrote a concurring opinion signaling her support if the bill had a more narrow "grevious physical injury" exception that the Daschle amendment provided.
I just wanted to educate everyone on the abortion question. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Update: I thank everyone for recommending this diary. This is my second time on the recommended list -- the first time being a diary supporting mandates for universal health care.
Also, looking at Sen. Obama's quotes, I'm beginning to believe that he would have supported the more broad "serious adverse health consequences" exception amendment. He just doesn't believe mental distress constitutes a "serious adverse health consequence."