President Obama will address nearly 1,000 supporters of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, making him the first sitting president to address the group.
Why, at a time when states are adopting new restrictions on abortion and abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is facing criminal charges for conduct at his Philadelphia clinic, is the president speaking to a reproductive rights group?
Politics.
In few areas does Obama hold as commanding a lead over his opponents than when it comes to reproductive rights, and women’s issues more generally.
In October 2012, for example, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found Americans trusted Obama to do a better job than Republicans in making decisions about women’s reproductive health choices and services, by an enormous margin of 51 to 29 percent.
