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Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Life Issues
By Melanie Johnson | July 24, 2008
As the general election campaign gets underway, it is important for us to examine where each candidate stands on the issues affecting us today. Below are quotes taken from John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s websites summarizing their stance on life issues.
John McCain
Senator McCain has an entire section on his campaign website devoted to “Human Dignity & Life,” showing voters that this is a vital and pressing issue in the election. It states:
“John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench . . . However, the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion. Once the question is returned to the states, the fight for life will be one of courage and compassion . . . The pro-life movement has done tremendous work in building and reinforcing the infrastructure of civil society by strengthening faith-based, community, and neighborhood organizations that provide critical services to pregnant mothers in need. This work must continue and government must find new ways to empower and strengthen these armies of compassion. These important groups can help build the consensus necessary to end abortion at the state level.”
The discussion of human dignity and life continues as McCain’s website addresses bioethics and stem cell research:
“John McCain opposes the intentional creation of human embryos for research purposes. To that end, Senator McCain voted to ban the practice of ‘fetal farming,’ making it a federal crime for researchers to use cells or fetal tissue from an embryo created for research purposes. Furthermore, he voted to ban attempts to use or obtain human cells gestated in animals. Finally, John McCain strongly opposes human cloning and voted to ban the practice, and any related experimentation, under federal law. As president, John McCain will strongly support funding for promising research programs, including amniotic fluid and adult stem cell research and other types of scientific study that do not involve the use of human embryos.”
Barack Obama
Under the section entitled “Women” on Senator Obama’s website is his stance on what he terms “reproductive choice”:
“He has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in that case.”
Also under the “Women” section is his stance on stem cell research.
“Barack Obama believes that we owe it to the American public to explore the potential of stem cells to treat the millions of people suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which would allow research of human embryonic stem cells derived from embryos donated (with consent) from in vitro fertilization clinics.”
For the full text, go to:
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Topics: Abortion, Stem Cell Research |
July 25th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Linked to your post from McCain vs Obama on stem cell research … Your post is thoughtful and well written.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m dubious of John McCain’s record on Life Issues. If you look deeper than just his website, which I would have hoped you did, you can find all sorts of flip-flops. For example, John McCain was among a group of 58 Senators in 2004 who signed a letter to George W. Bush to encourage him to “Relax the restrictions in the current policy” on stem cell research, and asking George W. Bush to support allowing research on Human Embryoes. (http://www.ontheissues.org/Notebook/Note_04-SEN8.htm)
John McCain has also shown lack of conviction in his supposedly pro-Life beliefs at other points in his career, and in 1999 even went so far as to say that he “would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade,” opening up a lot of room for doubt of the statement on John McCain’s website.
I would hope that you would take a more thorough review of John McCain’s record on abortion and other Life Issues, instead of just trusting his website, which doesn’t even tell you that the National Right to Life Committee didn’t even list John McCain as having a pro-life stance as late as 2006, but instead rated him with a 75%, earning McCain the title of “mixed record on abortion”.