Well, mental illness does not mean "down in the dumps". Serious mental illness, the kind that needs to be medicated, means that without it, you would not be sane enough to live within society.

I'm not entirely clear on the kinds of mental illnesses that would necessitate an abortion, though. Can anyone clue me in? What is the major concern in this situation?

also, this is a straw man argument pandering to the extreme right

the majority of women who have late term abortions want their babies.   However, due to health issues, they have to abort.

I suppose that having cancer and having to decide whether to have the treatments & aborting or not to have the treatments and getting worse is mental distress.

and a woman should always have the right to decide that for herself.

I'm confused then, what qualifies as a not serious clinical mental-health disease? Does he have any idea what he is saying when he talks about choice? At this point I have no idea what he is saying.

Some harsh reality.

Obama has a real hurdle to jump on this issue. McCain owns it! He needs to stay as far away from Pro-Life issues as possible or he will completely alienate a big group of voters. Remember how the Bush campaign started rumors about McCain's illegitimate black child and ended McCain's run in 2000? Here's the real story:

I mentioned a recent South Carolina advertisement about McCain's pro-life voting record. As good as that record is, the ad contained still more powerful evidence of his pro-life convictions. This part of the ad shows Cindy McCain walking beside a diminutive Catholic nun. Mrs. McCain is holding an infant in her arms. It is (the ad text says) "little Bridget, a baby she and John adopted in 1993 from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. Bridget has been a great blessing to the McCain family."

Indeed she has. But there is a little more to the story than is there told. For one thing, there were two babies. Mrs. McCain brought home a second infant from the same orphanage. That baby became the adopted child of the McCain's best friends. Second, Mrs. McCain did not go to the orphanage in order to adopt. While she was touring the facility, Mother Teresa unexpectedly said to her (in so many words): "If you do not take those two babies with you, now, they could die right here. But you can save them." Cindy McCain did.

I believe that there is a profound lesson here about what it means to be pro-life, a lesson which goes beyond the important (but obvious) fact that the McCains live by the same principles which lie behind John's voting record. "Little Bridget" was not sought out by the McCains. She was not expected or planned for. She was an unanticipated gift whom the McCains welcomed, not because she was antecedently "wanted" by them, but because she was a baby, a unique and unrepeatable human being with a right to life because she is a human being and not because some other people's plans include her -- or don't.

One major reason for late abortions is the ultrasound discovery of severe fetal anomalies which are incompatible with life / birth such as anencephaly, which are incompatible with life.

This type of situation occurs in a woman who does not have any physical or mental illness, but it certainly causes emotional distress... "mental distress". It is not a diagnosable mental illness, but a situational emotional crisis which affects the pregnant woman, her partner and her entire family. The choice must be made to terminate the pregnancy or allow it to progress with the knowledge that the end result will be a still-birth or an infant death soon after delivery. NO-ONE who hasn't walked in those shoes can possibly judge or understand that choice.

Clearly, Obama is not thinking of these women and these situations when he made his dismissive and belittling statement to the Christian magazine regarding "mental distress". I cringed when I read his statement... and this clarification is not much better. Disappointing, very disappointing. Obama's team should be educating people to understand how complex these issues can be, not trying to create soften-the-issue soundbites.

My opinion is always that these PRIVATE issues must be left to women, their families, their doctors and a team of caring professionals who understand these situations in their entirety. Obama has said that, for certain, but this recent exchange negates a very important component of that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anencephaly

He is saying, in his own words, "It is not just a matter of feeling blue." is not a legitimate reason for a late term abortion.  Everything else you guys are doing is grandstanding.  This is simple, lets not make it complected.  

Senator Obama is digging himself into a hole here with his definitions and re-definitions of what constitutes a health exception. The Supreme Court established many, many years (Doe vs. Bolton, I think)that:

1) There should be NO distinction between "mental" and "physical health" - it's all just "health".

and

2) The definition of what constitutes a "health" threat to a pregnant woman rests with the ATTENDING PHYSICIAN.

All that Senator Obama need do is say that he is in favor of a health exception as determined by a physician and that's the end of it. His talk about "feeling blue" "mental distress" etc. is just condescending claptrap from a politician who is trying to appear "thoughtful" on the issue to those who do not believe that a women's health can be simply left to her and her physician and would like to throw pastors (and politicians)into the mix as well.  
Still, it's good to see that he recognizes the poor initial impression that he made and his recantation is proof that those who support him can change his campaign by voicing dissent.