NARAL Pro-Choice America Launches Website To Highlight McCain's Position On Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 23 Apr 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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NARAL Pro-Choice America recently launched the website MeetTheRealMcCain.com to highlight presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) position on abortion rights, Newsweek reports. According to Newsweek, some abortion-rights groups are "nervous" that McCain's voting record of opposition to abortion rights is being eclipsed by his "maverick" reputation and is not "speaking loudly enough" to voters.

A recent Planned Parenthood Federation of America survey conducted in 16 "likely battleground states" in the November election found that 23% of McCain's female, abortion-rights supporters believed that the senator shared their view on abortion. About 50% of respondents said they did not know enough to describe McCain's position on abortion. Cecile Richards, president of PPFA, said, "There's an enormous education gap," adding that most women "have no idea what John McCain's stance is."

According to Newsweek, PPFA is working on an "aggressive" education campaign aimed at female voters in "battleground" states. NARAL Pro-Choice America has purchased ads on Google that ask "Is McCain Pro-Choice?" and link to a NARAL site. Ted Miller, a spokesperson for the group, said, "The press describes him as a moderate maverick, so people take that to mean that he's pro-choice, or not as bad on choice." He added, "But if you look at his voting record, he's nowhere near moderate."

The National Right to Life Committee, which recently endorsed McCain, said it welcomes the efforts of abortion-rights groups. NRLC Executive Director David O'Steen said, "As more people learn of his desire to protect unborn children, that will help his campaign" (Kliff/Bailey, Newsweek, 4/28).

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The "confusion" of McCain's position on issues such as abortion rights has raised questions as to what McCain really "stands for," Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen writes in an opinion piece. She adds that the "confusion may be because McCain has sometimes seemed confused as well." According to Quindlen, McCain in 1999 said he did not support overturning Roe v. Wade, arguing that a reversal of the Supreme Court ruling could lead to "illegal and dangerous operations." However, McCain "backtracked" after the "right went nuts" and has since said that he supports reversing Roe and that if elected president he would actually work to overturn the court's decision, according to Quindlen.

McCain's voting record on abortion is "clear," Quindlen writes, adding that the senator has "a zero lifetime rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund," not only because of his consistent opposition to abortion, but because of his opposition to family planning and sex education funding as well (Quindlen, Newsweek, 4/28).

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