As commentator Peter Wehner noted during the 2008 Presidential campaign, "Obama’s record on abortion is as extreme as one can possibly be." Obama is almost universally anticipated to be the most pro-abortion president in American history.

Mandatory taxpayer funding

As a United States Senator, Barack Obama was a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), even saying that "the first thing I’d do as president" is sign FOCA into law. The bill would nullify virtually all federal and state limitations on abortion, including the types now permitted by the Supreme Court, such as parental notification laws and waiting periods. It would also make partial-birth abortion legal again, and it would overturn bans on government funding of abortion.

While in the Illinois State Senate, Obama voted against legislation that prohibited taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortion. His campaign stated that he "does not support" the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion through the Medicaid program.

Obama voted to overturn the Mexico City Policy, which prevents U.S. funds from going to overseas organizations that perform or promote abortions.

Obama voted to block a bill that would have required an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state. In the Illinois State Senate, he voted against requiring parental notification when minor girls obtain abortions.

Supports partial-birth abortion

Obama sharply criticized the Supreme Court for its 2007 Gonzales v. Carhart decision upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He said, "I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling…I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women."

In the Illinois State Senate, Obama opposed a ban on partial-birth abortion.

(The partial-birth abortion procedure—used from the fifth month on—involves pulling a living baby feet-first out of the womb, except for the head, puncturing the skull and suctioning out the brain. The great majority of partial-birth abortions are performed on healthy babies of healthy mothers.)

Opposes protection for born-alive babies

Obama co-sponsored a bill (S. 1520) in 2005 that would allow the cloning of human embryos to be used in research, but prohibit implanting them in wombs and allowing them to live and grow up. Obama voted to use taxpayer dollars to fund the killing of embryonic humans for experimentation.

Asked to name his greatest legislative regret, Obama singled out Congress’ attempt to save disabled woman Terri Schiavo from a court-ordered death by starvation and dehydration. Not speaking out against that effort, Obama said, "was a mistake."

Asked to name his model Supreme Court justices, Obama pointed to left-wing Justices Breyer, Ginsburg and Souter (all of whom believe the Constitution contains a right to partial-birth abortion). Obama writes, "Ultimately, I have to side with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution—that it is not a static but rather a living document, and must be read in the context of an ever-changing world."