President Obama spent Sunday giving the commencement address at Notre Dame. A little context: Arizona State University recently refused to give Obama an honorary doctorate when they asked him to give the commencement at their school. There seemed to be no reason or rhym behind the decision–which lead to this excellent report by the team at the John Stewart show.

Notre Dame students (who actually have a legitimate beef with Obama) saw this and wondered why on earth their school, which is Catholic and thus as an institution, anti-abortion, would 1. invite an openly pro-choice supporter to speak in the first place, and 2. reward that pro-choice speaker with an honorary doctorate. Students have protested regularly leading up to the speech, and got in some moments of protest at the actual event.

Obama seemed to hold his own, however, earning a standing ovation and reluctant respect from news outlets. The following is from Fox News:

He said the views of the two sides of the debate are “irreconcilable” but can be honored.

“I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it — indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory — the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable,” Obama said.

“Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature,” he said.

…

On the specific issue of abortion, Obama urged the public to at least agree that it is a “heart-wrenching” decision for any woman, and that the country should work to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unwanted pregnancies and making adoption more available.

So, looking past the obvious irony that a man is deciding how a conversation about women should be discussed (and many of the protesters were men), I think it was a good speech in so much that for once, when there were protests going on, a public figure actually talked about those protests instead of barreling through some bullshit speech as if half the audience wasn’t standing with it’s back to the person.

But I do have one nitpicky issue: why does choosing an abortion always have to be a gut wrenching heartbreaking horrible decision? Why is it that the only way pro-choicers can frame the debate in a way that isn’t offensive is if they frame it around a woman who is inherently tragic rather than assertive and active?

It’s simply yet another version of the virgin/whore dichotomy (good tragic wonderful woman sacrificing her desired child just to survive in evil world versus evil whore that uses abortions as birth control)–and it’s frustrating. Why are women so easily reduced to simple caricatures ? (Oooh, the irony)