John McCain & Abortion

It is a fact that our celebrity-addled media is in love with John McCain and gives him a free pass pretty much every times he asks - hell, even if he doesn't ask! That is unfortunate and unhealthy for a democracy, but that's the way it is in Amerika in 2008.

For example, a Wednesday AP article by one Libby Quaid carried this comment:

"Despite his rocky relations with the right, McCain's record on cultural issues like abortion is conservative. McCain has repeatedly voted against federal funding for abortion and has opposed federal Medicaid funds for abortion."

Hmmm. Notice what that doesn't say. Even though it leads one to assume that McCain has always opposed abortion, it doesn't actually say that. It sounds very much like a McCain press release. It probably is. I don't know Libby Quaid, but most political reporters these days do not investigate news stories, nor do they even verify news stories--they simply write what's handed to them.

Cliff Schecter, the author of the recently-released book, "The Real McCain," in an interview with Buzzflash.com, says that McCain is a flip-flopper on a number of issues, including abortion! "In 1999," says Schecter, "he had two interviews with CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle where he said making abortion illegal would force women into horrible operations and we shouldn't overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Now he wants to overturn it. He even indicated he would support a human rights amendment."

It shouldn't have been difficult for Libby Quaid to do a bit of fact-checking before talking about McCain's "conservative" abortion record.


Quaid would have discovered the following:

In July of 1998, McCain was anti-abortion to the extent he wanted to restrict abortions; forbid partial-birth abortions and deny public funding of abortions.

But about a year later, in August of 1999, McCain said that while he would like to see Roe v. Wade made "irrelevant," he did not want to repeal it.

In October of 1999, McCain said he supported adoption and foster care and that he wanted to work together on abortion. The Republican party could include both Pro-Choice and Pro-Life people.

That was also the year that McCain said women shouldn't be forced to have illegal operations.

By January of 2000, McCain is moving the other direction and expressed a desire to overturn Roe v. Wade, while making exceptions for rape & incest. But he also supported fetal tissue research and said again abortion was OK in case of rape plus there should be no testing for rape.

If a daughter in a family wanted an abortion, there should be a "family conference" about the matter.

Doctors who perform abortions should be prosecuted, but not the women who get them.

Jumping to May of 2007, we find McCain still supporting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Simultaneously, he again expressed concern for women who undergo illegal dangerous operations.

In February 2008, McCain repeated what he said in 1999 - that women shouldn't be forced to have illegal operations.

Somewhat incongruously, also in February 2008, he noted he was "Pro-life and an advocate for the Rights of Man everywhere."

But in April of 2008 he re-affirmed his belief that the United States Government should take control of women's bodies to better conform to Roman Catholic and Evangelical Christian religious dogma and forbid them the right of abortion, i. e. Roe v. Wade should be overturned.