McCain Speaks Out Against Abortions
Laura Meckler reports from Kansas City, Mo., on the presidential race.
Sen. John McCain went out of his way to speak against abortion twice today at a town hall meeting before a friendly audience that vigorously applauded a range of conservative proposals. It’s a subject he rarely raises on the campaign trail unless asked directly about it—and one where Democrats think they have the edge.
The Republican presidential candidate also received strong applause when he said the nation should allow offshore drilling, and a standing ovation when he spoke of his support for the war in Iraq.
The first question concerned sexually graphic material on the Internet. McCain segued from that to abortion.
“I also would like to say one other thing very quickly to you–that is I am proud of my record of protecting and advocating the rights of the unborn. I believe this is also an important issue,” he said. He said the noblest words every written were the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
“Life means the rights of the born and the unborn,” he said. “You can count on my active advocacy for the rights of the unborn.”
He also criticized his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, for opposing a ban on a late-term procedure opponents call “partial birth abortion.”
“My friends, that’s a hideous procedure. It should never be allowed any place on earth,” he said told several hundred supporters gathered at the historic Union Station.
Obama has said he wants an exception for the health of the mother.
Later, McCain was questioned by a woman who said she gave her son up for adoption and was trying to get him back. She asked what McCain would do to protect rights of birth parents. McCain spoke of his strong support of adoption and also volunteered that he would continue to protect the rights of “the born and the unborn.”
Abortion rights advocates believe that many voters mistakenly believe that McCain supports abortion rights and that they will be less inclined to vote for him once they realize he does not.
On the flip side, McCain did not back down for his support of embryonic stem cell research, anathema to many abortion opponents because it involves destruction of a human embryo, typically those left over from fertility treatments. McCain said he hoped that advancing research will obviate the need for stem cells.
“At the moment I support stem cell research [because of] the potential it has for curing some of the most terrible diseases that afflict mankind,” he said.
McCain also took a hard swipe at Obama over health care after an audience member suggested that government is already too involved in the health system.
“My friends, we’ve seen this movie before. It was called Hillary Care back in 1993,” he said to laughter, “and we’re not going to do it againl We’re not going to have the government take over the health care system in America. And that’s what Sen. Obama wants to do.”
Obama’s plan would involve a greater role for government in health care and new spending, but it is much different from the 1993 Clinton plan and most outside observers agree it is far from a government takeover of the health care system.
All those Hillary eupporters who are feminists are going to vote for a man who’s against a womans right to choose. That’s a real enigma!
The more Johhny talks, the better it is for Obama. These are the issues that women shold care about. Even if you are not a pro-choice woman you should worry about this man’s attitude towards your ability to make your own choice on a great many other health care decisions. Do you trust him to make the right choice for you?
I believe the majority of Americans support McCain’s position; they don’t believe that butchering unborn babies is part of “womens rights.
He just lost the election for sure!
Hump,
You have an interesting name for your point of view!
No individual who takes as radical a position as Sen. Obama - the most pro-abortion, culture-of-death position among seated Senators - should be let within a mile of the presidency of this great nation, which has always cherished life and human dignity.
The destruction of babies is no guarantor of “women’s rights” now that the deluded 1960s and 1970s are behind us.
For a reminder, look up Susan Atkins and the rest of the Charles Manson gang, and their callous disregard for life which included the brutal murder of a mother and her unborn baby. No different than the late-term abortions that Obama supports.
Another reason why Obama is doomed to failure in his glib, slick, fool-the-gullible-electorate candidacy.
I applaud McCain for his position. Abortion is murder! There is an indisputable heart beat early on in the life. During late-term procedures, brain activity of the unborn is extremely high as the unborn pushes the instruments away, fighting for its life. I’ve known women that have had abortions, and they are plagued with nightmares and guilt. Obama is an evil character, and his charisma has concealed his ambitions very well. George has made mistakes, and McCain certainly makes mistakes. Who hasn’t? I commend both for at least taking a stance and leading; leaders often make mistakes. The issue is not about government making decisions for women; this is about women and in many cases men, too that don’t want to deal with the consequences of their mistakes.
The problem is that apparently the majority of women don’t agree with McCain. Notwithstanding the moral views, this is strange politics. McCain trails Obama with women because of Iraq and abortion. Does he think this is going to get him closer? Women are terrified that he might stack the Supreme Court with anti abortionists. They also suspect he is a war monger. If the suspicion that he has these attitudes has him down 20 pts with women, how does he think being so overt is going to help.
Honesty. What a concept! Election or not, that’s what most should want in a leader.
A dead conscience is no more doing its job than a dead “fetus” can do its job (such as paying your future social security…)
Accidental pregnancy is an oxymoron (like “accidental” Russian roulette). If you don’t desire the result, don’t play the game.
Babies have rights. Despite the Left Wing’s preferred callousness/blindness/ignorance.
We need to end abortions, so we can have more people in the military then we will invade more countries and kill more people. The world does not have enough people. We don’t generate enough pollution and waste because there is a lack of people. There are no food shortages. No one is starving in the world. Poor beggars having 16 kids and marrying them off at 8 years old to 30 year old rapists is not good enough to expand the population. We need more people. This is why I had so many adulterous relations with so many women. I was doing my part to expand the population. To generate more demand for energy, food, every natureal resource, to produce more waste, trash and pollution. We need to increase the number of useless morons in the world that do nothing but destroy the Earth.
This just helps Obama with those women who supported Hillary and were thinking about anti-choice McCain. Want to go back to the back alley abortions? Want the government to control women’s body? Want men have the right to decided over women’s body? If the answer is yes, Vote McCain!!!!!
There you go girl!!!
Abortion is murder, but dropping bombs on innocent women and children is lovely. Stem cell research is murder, but raping little girls, shooting them and burning them is fine in the Born Again Killers wars. “I am a war criminal, I droppend bombs on innocent women and childred” - John McCain, 60 Minutes, CBS News, 1997. There is no difference between the Born Again Idiot Fraud Killers, the Nazis and the Islamic Fundamentalists terrorists. They all believe in Fairy Tales. These idiots will never advance society. These Religious Idiots only know how to hate and kill.
To win Conservative Votes, McCain says he opposes abortion, gay
marriage and adoption by gay couples.
To also win Liberal Votes,he says
it’s not his problem, it’s the States’. He won’t sponsor what he believes.
He’ll “Pass-the-Buck to the States.” Speak loudly, but avoid action,
that’s John.
That way he wins both sides, and loses none.
How long will we deceive ourselves that abortion is OK? If anyone’s mother decided to have an abortion when they were an embryo, they would have DIED before they took their first breath. Just because the child is in the womb, doesn’t mean he or she isn’t a person and shouldn’t be protected. We are an absurd people that believe in this barbaric practice. If Barack Obama opened his eyes and was against abortion, I would vote for him. But because he is as blind as the rest of them, I will never vote for an abortion supporter. Some Christian! Yeah right! Hey 5:20pm! Who are the morons that kill? 1 in 3 pregnancies are aborted in this country. The blood of the most innocent, without any voice, are on your hands. War isn’t right, and neither is killing the unborn.
Old McC: people are good, not bad — or is it everyone EXCEPT you that
you consider bad?
Carl29: what about babies’ rights, or do you
subscribe to the medieval (pre-scientific) view that if an organism hasn’t
breathed yet, it is not what it is? Having a seven month old fetus being
ripped apart in one room of a hospital while another is on another floor
on life support in a bassinet is evil. Plain and simple.
BAIK: your
comment sounds, well, hateful…
Hey 5:11pm. Are you for real? Maybe we should just have a government that tells us which people can have offspring? And if they aren’t smart or healthy enough they could be terminated to make room for people like you. Because only you lefty radicals know what’s best for the Good Earth. And what’s best is that we all go back to the caves and make neat paintings and wear bear skins. Why do you even read the WSJ?
Think this issue seriously after you watch the movie called “Cider House Rules” which has the abortion thing as its prime focus…that and orphands.
I am as anti-democrat as they come, short of breaking the law and offing a bunch :-) However I am strongly pro-choice. Go figure.
Abortion is good, it generates a lot of jobs, people can have sex like me and not worry about having more kids, so what’s the problem? You Born Again Idiots need to read some real books and not your fantasy fairy tales. If Abortion is murder then it must be good, we are dropping bombs and killing thousands in the Born Again Faith Based Pro Life Lying Mass Murderer Serial Killer in Chief War Criminal’s illegal invasions. I don’t hear any Born Again Idiot Fraud Killers complaining about that. So, just enjoy some sex and not worry so much about your fairy tales.
No Milk, how do you like the Born Again Killer War Criminal’s socialist bailout of Fannie and Freddie?
Humans are Idiots, do we need more of them?
Born Again Idiot Losers donate more to my fraudulent causes, so I can become wealthier.
Abortions are great! That’s why I invented them.
Born Again Killer Frauds, as to explain why it is legitimate to cite the “validity” of Leviticus 18:22 in your varied political campaigns against homosexuals and marriage equality, while simultaneously ignoring other biblical edicts? What makes one “law” absolute and the others irrelevant?
Also, why aren’t you following the New Testament – specifically Matthew 19:6 – and lobbying for laws prohibiting divorce?
Furthermore, shouldn’t you be campaigning against equality for women as directed by the apostle Paul in First Timothy? He instructed Christians “suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” because “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the transgression.”
BabiesForMcCain, what is really evil is forcing that 7 month old to be born only to die in agony hours later because it lacks a spinal cord. Third-trimester abortion is performed ONLY in cases where the baby or mother will not survive in any case. Please do your research.
Kaitlin, I know many, MANY women who have had abortions and were able to leave abusive men and dead-end situations because they were not tied down by children, AND they have dealt just fine with their grief and negative feelings.
If you don’t want an abortion, don’t have one. But don’t force other women to bear a child that no one wants or will pay for or take care of. Unless you are willing to take them all . . .
Deuteronomy 22:22 clearly states that “If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman.” So, why are these adulterers still alive: Old McCorrupt, Larry Craig, David Vitter, Ted Haggard, Jim Swaggert, Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Bob Barr, and Jim Gibbons?
During the height of the pre-election campaign to “save traditional marriage” – the Christian marketing-research Barna Group issued a report entitled “Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians.” It documented that “among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%.” Barna also documented that “nearly one-quarter of the married ‘born agains’ (23%) get divorced two or more times.”
During the height of the pre-election campaign to “save traditional marriage” – the Christian marketing-research Barna Group issued a report entitled “Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians.” It documented that “among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%.” Barna also documented that “nearly one-quarter of the married ‘born agains’ (23%) get divorced two or more times.”
From the bible, life begins at birth–when a baby draws its first breath. The bible defines life as “breath” in several significant passages, including the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis 2:7, when God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Jewish law traditionally considers that personhood begins at birth.
Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some antiabortionists cite obscure passages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5 This is only sexist. It says nothing about abortion.
The Commandments, Moses, Jesus and Paul ignored every chance to condemn abortion. If abortion was an important, why didn’t the bible say so?
Many antiabortionists quote the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13) as evidence that the bible is antiabortion. They fail to investigate the bible’s definition of life (breath) or its deafening silence on abortion. Moreover, the Mosaic law in Exodus 21:22-25, directly following the Ten Commandments, makes it clear that an embryo or fetus is not a human being.
“Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”–Psalm 137:9
The bible is not pro-child. Why did God set a bear upon 42 children just for teasing a prophet (2 Kings 2:23-24)? Far from demonstrating a “pro-life” attitude, the bible decimates innocent babies and pregnant women in passage after gory passage, starting with the flood and the wanton destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, progressing to the murder of the firstborn child of every household in Egypt (Ex. 12:29), and the New Testament threats of annihilation.
Space permits only a small sampling of biblical commandments or threats to kill children:
* Numbers 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little
ones.
* Deuteronomy 2:34 utterly destroyed the men and the women and
the little o
Hmm. I think reasonable folks can agree that calling a fertilized egg a person is wrong, and considering a fetus-at-term to be completely inhuman is also wrong. So it follows that there is a problem of what the fetus is at different stages, and what degree of legal protection it must have. Hard problem. Reasonable folks can differ. But getting red-faced and silly, for example claiming there is no difference between a human and a fertilized egg isn’t helpful.
Our country is about to suffer from the post WWII baby boom, if we don’t come up with a real fix to the problem. Baby boomers are now starting to retire but we don’t have the means to take care of them. The entire world population is also at record high, causing a very, very serious strain on world resources. What we need is a 10-year moratorium on child birth. We cannot even begin to clean up our country’s problems if people are busy starting families. We should demand that China and India do the same, or else they should face economic sanctions from us.
Well, Obama ‘08, I suppose you could just ship all the old geezers South to Mexico, and if they make it back across the border they can declare political amnesty like illegals do. Yeah, who cares that the elderly worked their butts off so that we ingrates could have an easier life than they did. Works for me, not! As to declaring a moratorium on child birth, right, like that’s going to happen. I’d hate to think your mindset is an example of an actual Obama supporter because you sound more like a Communist than a Democrat.
Keep on Trucking,
You say “you should worry about [McCain’s]
attitude towards your ability to make your own choice on a great many
other health care decisions. Do you trust him to make the right choice for
you?”
Doesn’t that logic fall down in the face of Obama’s plan for government-run health care? Just curious how you reconcile supporting that plan with your “right to choose”?
Just another position that Flip Flop John McSame has changed positions on as a sop to the gight wing. Keep it up John. See what good it did the Mittster.
Unborn babies are not citizens of this country and are not granted any rights by the Constitution. If we failed to take care our citizens, which we have, then we should not be adding new citizens. No one should be allowed to have chlidren unless and until every homeless and starving child in America finds a home.
At least McCain is sticking with his consistant voting record on this issue. But its worth noting - abortion rates rise and fall based on demographic trends. Short of a total ban (MOST unlikely) the rate fill continue to fall based on an aging population and increased use of birth control - no matter who is elected.
How stupid can those pro choicers be? That baby will not come in the woman’s womb if she is smart enough to SAY “NO” TO SEX!!!! The government is not controlling a woman’s body if she has the choice whether or not she has sex and hence whether or not she gets pregnant. A fetus can feel pain and a woman consented to have sex and create it, so life certainly begins at conception! Even most REPUBLICANS believe that there should be an exception for rape or to save the woman’s life, so outlawing abortion certainly does not violate women’s rights at all! Women who have back alley abortions choose to risk their lives just as they chose to have sex and get pregnant. If people had sex only for children, the problem of abortion would not exist! ABORTION IS COLD-BLOODED MURDER!
Dropping bombs on innocent women and childrend like the Born Again Faith Based Pro Life Lying WMD Anti-Science Big Oil Axis of Evil Mass Murderer Serial Killer in Chief War Criminal is MURDER!!! Old McWarCriminal admits to being a War Criminal, 60 Minutes, CBS News, 1997. You Born Again Faith Based Pro Life Killer Frauds love to support Murderers. You are all going to Hell.
“the rights of the born and the unborn”. Sure. Well, unless you live in the middle east, then your right to life..well its important..but not as important as say, protecting american investment interests. Or unless you’ve killed someone (non-war) then you may get the death penalty. Of course you may really be innocent, but not much we can do about that. So you have a right to life unless you do something we dont like, or have something worth money.
You call yourself “conservatives” and then ask the govt to intrude somehow on our lives. Small govt means exactly that. It doesnt mean “cut all the programs for gays and increase them for my group”. It means cut (conserve!) all the programs for everyone. This country survived a few hundred years without the Fed, the IRS, medicaid, welfare etc.
I invented Abortions. There is nothing wrong with Abortions. I love Abortions.
There is nothing in the book of fairy tales about Abortions. I love Abortions.