Politics and Culture

When Obama was asked about when life begins, the pro-choice candidate said that decision is "above my pay grade."

CNN

Why is abortion above his pay grade, but not poverty, racism, marriage, military intervention and war and peace in general, AIDS, the environment, or any other moral question that he mentioned at the forum?

Is it because that one is split 50-50 in public polls and the others draw wide approval (People may be for military intervention in some cases or for drilling, but nobody would say that war is good and that trees are bad.)?