McCain Campaign Shifts On Abortion Position With Selection Of Palin As VP Running Mate, WSJ Reports

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 05 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is shifting its position on abortion with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as his vice presidential running mate, the Wall Street Journal's "Capital Journal" reports (Seib, "Capital Journal," Wall Street Journal, 9/4).

Palin is opposed to abortion rights in all cases except to save the life of a pregnant woman. McCain also is opposed to abortion rights but has said he would support exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman's life. Palin also is opposed to funding for human embryonic stem cell research, which McCain supports (Carlton et al., Wall Street Journal, 9/4).

According to "Capital Journal," it is "likely" that McCain's selection of Palin means the Republican Party has decided to "hold the traditional Republican antiabortion ground" on the issue, which means the "lines between Republicans and Democrats" on abortion rights "have just grown sharper." In addition, it is likely that the "volume on the abortion debate" will increase during the campaign, "Capital Journal" reports. Some advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate have called for a refocusing of the issue on "practical steps to make abortion less common" rather than on the legality of the procedure; however, such debates will be unlikely because of Palin's position on abortion rights, "Capital Journal" reports.

In addition, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) campaign likely will use the selection of Palin to "draw away women voters from the Republican ticket." Obama campaign manager David Plouffe last week said many voters do not "have a full appreciation" of the McCain campaign's antiabortion stance. The abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America posted a request for donations on its Web site following the announcement of Palin's nomination, saying that the selection is "further evidence that a McCain presidency will be just another four years of the same old Bush-style anti-choice policies" ("Capital Journal," Wall Street Journal, 9/4).

In related news, McCain's wife, Cindy McCain, has said she disagrees with Palin's position that abortion should be illegal in all cases except to save the life of pregnant women. Cindy McCain, who also supports exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape or incest, said that she and Palin "differ on many issues" but that they "don't have to agree on every issue" (Stapleton-Paff/Barr, The Hill, 9/3).

~ CBS' "Evening News" on Wednesday included a discussion with Cindy McCain about the selection of Palin and Palin's position on abortion rights (Couric, "Evening News," CBS, 9/3).

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