Abortion-Rights Opponents Endorse McCain, Washington Times Reports

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 20 Feb 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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Some abortion-rights opponents have recently endorsed Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Washington Times reports. According to the Times, even groups that have "fought bitterly" with McCain over his support for human embryonic stem cell research and "championing" of campaign finance reform are now "rallying around him."

McCain's voting record in the Senate reveals a "striking opposition to abortion in most of the major fights ... down to the smallest skirmishes, even when he was in a distinct minority," the Times reports. McCain in 1988 voted with only 20 other senators in deleting family planning grants from a spending bill. He also has voted against providing Medicaid funds for abortions in cases of rape and incest, against allowing federal health insurance plans to cover abortions and against creating federal penalties for blocking access to abortion clinics (Dinan, Washington Times, 2/18). McCain earlier this month at the Conservative Political Action Conference reiterated his opposition to abortion rights and said he would appoint strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/8).

Barbara Lyons -- executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, which challenged the constitutionality of the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance law in the Supreme Court -- said, "When you contrast him with the alternative, and you think about such things as Supreme Court appointments, McCain is a far better choice." Arizona Right to Life President John Jakubczyk, who has not endorsed McCain in the Republican primary, said, "There are a lot of people within the grass roots who focused on the negatives of Sen. McCain. There's going to be some time that they're going to have to consider what they're going to do." However, Jakubczyk added, "From my perspective, I see [McCain] as someone we can enthusiastically support, and I look forward to his getting elected."

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), an abortion-rights opponent, said McCain is "pro-life in his heart of hearts." He added that the "extreme positions" taken by Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) "have been almost completely obscured, as it often is, by the focus on the Republican candidate." Referring to recent reports that researchers have reprogrammed mature adult human skin cells to produce embryonic-like stem cells, Smith said he expects the advances will help quash his disagreement with McCain on stem cell research funding (Washington Times, 2/18).

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