Is Hope Going Away for Pro-life Obama Supporters? [Serge]

In an answer to Scott's question, a beliefnet blogger already sees through the rhetoric of the Obama presidency. All Obama has offered for those who value human life are words and hope, and he's already begun to backtrack even on that:

Today, as promised, he is expected to repeal the "Mexico City policy" a.k.a. the "gag rule" -- the policy that prevented overseas family planning groups from mentioning abortion as an option if they receive U.S. money. He earned some praise from pro-life supporters by delaying the order by a day so it wouldn't coincide with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which many pro-life people view as a day of grief.

But I think the real signficance -- and the reason pro-life Obama supporters ought to be disappointed -- is the combination of the gag rule repeal (which was expected) and the language he used in his Roe v. Wade statement yesterday.

He did mention the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies. But keep in mind that pro-life Obama supporters believed that their big victory during the fights over the Democratic Party platform was not the language about reducing unintended pregnancies -- but rather the language about helping women carry babies to term, if that was their choice.

That thought was absent from yesterday's statement.