In a series of brief "What You Might Not Know About..." articles, the Washington Post is giving readers a few items about the leading presidential candidates. Today's focus is on Barack Obama and along with comments about his poker playing and his desire to "create a powerful executive branch position that would harness the Internet for government," we are reminded of Obama's extreme views on abortion: no restrictions, government funding, opposition to parental consent and even parental notification.In 2001 when he was an Illinois state senator, Obama declined to take a position on two pieces of legislation that would have required parental notification for minors who have an abortion, voting "present" instead of "yes" or "no." But five years earlier, he had filled out an issues questionnaire for the influential Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization opposing such notifications. "Do you support parent consent/notification for minors seeking abortion?" the survey asked. "No," he wrote. Obama also answered that he supported Medicaid funding and state worker insurance coverage for abortion and that he didn't support "any other" restrictions on the procedure.
