Presidential hopeful Barak Obama said yesterday on the campaign trail that abortion should be regulated.

Here’s the quote from the New York Times:

“Now, this is one of those areas – again, I think it’s important to be honest – where I don’t think you’re ever going to get a complete agreement on this issue. If you believe that life begins at conception, then I can’t change your mind. I think there is a large agreement, for example, that late-term abortions are really problematic and there should be a regulation. And it should only happen in terms of the mother’s life or severe health consequences, so I think there is broad agreement on these issues.

Now mind you, Obama has voted against any regulation on abortion every chance he got including partial birth abortion. He even voted against the Live Birth Abortion Act while he was a state senator which said babies out of the womb should be given medical treatment like any other person.

I hope this is a turning point for Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party in general. I expect Obama will offer up a “clarification” any day now. Here’s what Obama said in April at the South Carolina Democratic Debate.

Q: What us your view on the decision on partial-birth abortion and your reaction to most of the public agreeing with the court’s holding?
A: I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families who make these decisions. They don’t make them casually. And I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy. And I think that’s where most Americans are. Now, when you describe a specific procedure that accounts for less than 1% of the abortions that take place, then naturally, people get concerned, and I think legitimately so. But the broader issue here is: Do women have the right to make these profoundly difficult decisions? And I trust them to do it. There is a broader issue: Can we move past some of the debates around which we disagree and can we start talking about the things we do agree on? Reducing teen pregnancy; making it less likely for women to find themselves in these circumstances.

Obama is showing an alarming case of political schizophrenia here. He’s going to have to reconcile these two statements quickly. These two statements cannot be reconciled easily. I would hope that he would allow for some regulation on abortion but it would take profound courage to face down his party on this issue. I don’t think he has it in him. I’d like to be wrong here.