Abortion and John McCain’s Stance on the Issue

[John McCain-SAC]

I. Background on issue of abortion

There is a long and complicated history that goes along with this controversial topic. This has not been just a recent controversial phenomenon; it’s been around for almost two centuries in varying degrees. The first bill passed on this issue in 1821 in Connecticut and stated that abortion by lethal poison was illegal. From there it only came up one time, in 1859, when the American Medical Association tried to have all abortion banned; but after that the issue remained quiet until the sixties and seventies when it flared up more dramatically then ever. (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five)

In 1967 the AMA began to favor laws that would legalize abortion and it quickly followed that in 1970 abortion is legalized and the Supreme Court over-ruled several state restrictions dealing with abortion and situations that involve it. This is when abortion advocates truly began to gain ground. Before this abortion was nearly one hundred percent illegal. (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five). Then in 1970 Hawaii became the first state to legalize abortion and say it was no longer a crime, and quickly following that New York legalized abortion. Next, the biggest and most controversial decision concerning abortion changed the way the issues were thought of forever. January 22, 1973 Roe vs. Wade, abortion vs. pro-choice, was brought before the Supreme Court to decide whether or not it was a woman’s fundamental right to have an abortion. Many people were very shocked when the decision came back 7 against 2 in favor of pro-choice. (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five)

In 1976 the “Supreme Court strikes down provisions of Missouri law giving veto power over abortion to husbands and parents in Planned Parenthood vs. Danforth”. This ruling took all power away from the husband to decide what happened to his child. (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five) . “1980 Ronald Reagan appoints three new conservative Supreme Court justices which leads to rulings favorable to state restrictions on abortion.” This looked like it might be the end of abortion if enough anti-abortion legislation could get passed. It immediately began to look like thatis what would happen when also in 1980 “Harris vs. McRae, the Supreme Court upholds the congressional Hyde amendment, denying federal Medicaid funding even for medically necessary abortions.” (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five)

This made it very hard for some people to get abortions because of income.
“In 1990 the Supreme Court upholds Roe but gives states more leeway to restrict abortion. Anti-abortion forces win congressional victories in efforts to ban partial birth abortions, but the bill is vetoed twice by President Clinton.” (Glazer, Sarah Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five)
Since then there have been several rulings on abortion and a few vetoes but none are as crucial as these.


II. Candidates stance on abortion

John McCain’s stance on abortion comes from his belief in God and his moral conviction that abortion is not only wrong, but that it is taking a heavy toll on this country’s moral values. McCain is a strong conservative; he has voted yes on a number of bills that would make abortion harder too attain and voted yes to banning partial birth abortion completely unless it is for mother’s safety. We will now look at his voting record over recent years to determine whether or not he is truly against abortion or if he is just trying to gain more votes.

In 1998 John McCain stated his stance on abortion, first: “abortion should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered.” Second: “prohibit the late-term abortion procedure known as “partial birth abortion”.” Thirdly: “prohibit public funding of abortions and public funding of organizations that advocate or perform abortions.” (Project Vote Smart, 1998 Jul 2, 1998).

When it comes too deciding who he wants as a Supreme Court justice, McCain’s stance is: “McCain has said that he will nominate justices based on their experience, and those who share his values,” according to a spokesman. (Associated Press June 14, 1999).

He opposes partial-birth abortion and he is against public funding for abortion except for cases of rape or incest. According to Ron Fournier of the Associated Press, McCain reportedly sent a long letter to the National Right to Life Committee detailing his voting record on abortion and showing his support in trying to overturn President Clinton’s vetoing the ban on partial-birth abortion. McCain also has a strong stance on Roe vs. Wade. “I’d love to see a point where Roe vs. Wade is irrelevant and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary, but certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeals of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force women in America to undergo illegal and dangerous operations.” “ A spokesman said that McCain “has a17 year voting record of supporting efforts to overturn Row vs. Wade, he does that currently, and will continue to do that as president.” (Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999) He also sees times where maybe abortion is necessary as in cases of rape or incest or if the pregnancy endangered the mother and child. This is from the Boston Globe, p.A11 Jan 22, 2000.

McCain’s exception to being anti-abortion is if the child was conceived through rape or incest; but would not ask if there was a rape and just takes the woman at her word. A reporter McCain asked if he supported the Reagan era rule that prevented international family planning clinics that receive federal funds from discussing abortion; and his response was, “I don’t believe they should advocate abortion with my tax dollars.” He was then asked if he would have the person who said they were raped tested and his response was, “ I think that I would give the benefit of the doubt to the person who alleges that.” This was taken from the New York Times, p. A17 Jan 25, 2000.

Works Cited

New York Times, p. A17 Jan 25, 2000
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

Boston Globe, p. A11 Jan 22, 2000
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

Ron Fournier, Associated Press Aug 24, 1999
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

Associated Press Jun 14, 1999
http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

Project Vote Smart, 1998, http://www.votesmart.org/npat.php?can_id=53270#409Jul 2, 1998

Sarah Glazer, Roe vs. Wade At Twenty Five http://hermes.sac.accd.edu:2118/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1997112800

Written by Lamar Hailey

[Jackie]

I strongly agree with McCain on this issue, i believe that it is wrong for us to decide whethere a being dies or not, i think that we make choices and its our responsibility to deal with the consequeses that we knew might come from sex. There are instances where i understand why people want abortion to be legal, for example, rape or incest and i get that its a horrible thing to go through and you didnt choose it. Its a tought one to argue when it comes to rape or incest because you had this horrible thing happen to you and you dont want to have a reminder of it, but on the other hand its not the baby's fault and its still a part of you. I strongly agree on mcCains stand on this issue and he seems to stand firm on what he believes and i respect that about him.

[Jessica]

Ok the first thing it comes to my mind is that sex education is so in the floor. second I think that having sex like crazy is going out of control! Well yeah if you are going to have sex you should take care of yourself and be aware of your actions so later you are not regreting because your pregnant and dont know what to do. I perfeclty understand that some girls want to abort because they got raped or for incest but that doesnt give the right to girls to abort. Now I undertand the whole thing about "I can do whatever I want with my life!" OK sweet do whatever you want with YOUR life but not with the babies life. recently I made a research paper of abortion and I found out that more of the 50% percent of girls that for some reason or another were regreting their abort and stopped thinking about it and thought that they should of give their babies in adoption since there is many people trying to adopt a baby. I really dont like Mccain but he has a good thought about abortion and I undesrtand him because Im agains abortion as well for my religion and because I dont think obviously that killing a baby is good. but yeah maybe abortion in case of rape and incest is somehow acceptable...

[Johanna Estrada]

This is an essay very intresting were it talks about the issue of abortion. I find it very intresting because it explain how are some decision that you make today could hurt in the future but also might cause things that you are not expected.I am really against abortion no matter what because once you are pregnent there is no thing in the world that is an obstacle of that babies birth.I dont really find a side on were i could agree for a abortion things that could happen to a women that might not by things that she had wanted to happen and because of that she is know pregnent it is not the babie sfault and that is why i ask my self why killing a baby is the solution. Every baby have the rite to come in thereal world no matter what. This is what i think about abortion.

[mbowman15]

This article is very interesting because I never really knew much about abortion till now. It is good to know the history about something so that we can make an informed decision about the present and about what should happen in the future. The twists and turns that abortion has taken along the way show how important of an issue this is, because if it wasn’t then there would have been one decision and that would have been final. However, there have been hundreds of decisions concerning this issue and there will only be thousands more to come in the future. I am strongly against abortion so I am a supporter of McCain. I agree that the Roe decision needs to be overturn and that it needs to be done in a fashion so as to not promote illegal abortions. However, the only way we can truly end abortion and to keep illegal abortions from happening is to do a better job of educating our children and to make abortion completely illegal and to enforce it with criminal punishments. I feel like abortion has only weakened our nation and something needs to be done to change this.

[Crystal Casas]

First, everything starts out with how we educate our children. Our sexual education is very weak. Our children are uninformed on ways to protect themselves and this carries on into many adult lives. In most parts of the country, our children are taught to wait until marriage—this is completely unrealistic. Some of us do not strive to get married, and abstinence until marriage is not realistic in our time.
In essence, we create this problem and the solution is ruin lives already being lived to save those not yet lived. Mccain's agenda to get rid of a woman’s right to choose is infuriating. Especially since he has exceptions, where only certain women are allowed to have an abortion on a case basis. This adds to the fact that a male gets to choose what happens to a woman’s body. When he states that it would be a decline in our countries moral values is coming from a Christian, white supremacist perspective-- this is my biggest problem with the republican party. WE ARE NOT ALL CHRISTIAN. Our government is supposed to represent the country as a whole and excluding minorities should not be acceptable. McCain is not a woman and will never understand what it is like not to be equal to the opposite sex. Having reproductive rights makes us equal to males. That is why women fought so hard to get these rights. This is a point that people overlook because most women in our country are brainwashed and oblivious (oppressed) under a patriarchal system. Or they are afraid of the word feminist—or solely think of women such as sarah palin as a feminist. I CANNOT STRESS HOW WRONG THIS IS. This world is not black and white, and while McCain acknowledges SOME grey areas, he cannot begin to think of all of them. Women should be able to decide what happens to their own bodies, their lives, as well as their counter parts, and they should know that it would be safe, and places that support women’s rights (ex: planned parenthood) should have funding and support by the government.

[b jane]

for the most part, i agree with mccaine. if your mature enough to be having sex you should be mature enough to know the conseqences of your actions. and YES kids, sex can and many times does lead to pregnency!! i dont feel abotion is right in any situation. your in school you dont have a job.. its not the "right" time.. even being raped. abortion is murder. those babies being killed did not ask to be born unto murderers... or unfit partents. there are alternatives out there like adoption. there are many ppl who want kids and cannot have them, give your unborn child a chance at life... maybe he'll do something great. any way you look at it... murder is wrong!

[Quinn Kevresian]

I think that would just help to the overpopulation going on in this country. Especially with teens not even knowing half of what there is to know about pregnancy or preventing it. If they knew about contraceptives and how to have safe sex and still got pregnant, but neither parent wanted the child, then I believe abortion would be okay. Why raise a child, or bring one into the world, when the parents don't want to have it. The child will have a horrible life and will be neglected, and if it's put up for adoption, there's always that chance that the child will grow up wanting to know who the parents are, and might spend time finding them, when in the end, the parents could care less about ever seeing their child. I'm stuck in between this issue with McCain, I feel strong about keeping a life, but there's certain circumstances where i'd feel it'd be better if a life wasn't given, to save a child from a bad life where it could be abused or just not even cared for and even die on it's own from neglect from the parents. Some people just aren't ready for kids, especially with the economy the way it is, people just really need to learn how to practice safe sex or even abstinence.

[rachel carrillo]

i agree with mccaine
abortion should only be allowed if raped or indangered mother we should not be able to decide if a child should be born it is just wrong these children deserve a chance at life.

[Laura]

I agree with McCaine 100 % i believe that we are no one to decide wheather somone should die,i feel that people have control of theor actions and i find it repulsive when someone thinks that they can resort to abortion because they feel their One night stand has went to far, when it results in an unwanted pregnancy.People choose who they sleep with and they should know the consequences of getting involved in such action,and if they know they will regret any of the cosequences that may come about ,why do it.on the other hand i also believe that in case of rape or the mother being in danger it is acceptable ,those are things that happen without anyone planning them or asking for such a thing .

[lamar hailey]

III. What should WE think about this candidate’s position?

From what I have read and been able to unearth about McCain and his stance on issues such as this, WE should believe him and vote for him if the sanctity of human life is an issue we are concerned about. First of all, John McCain has always voted against abortion and anything that might promote it in any way whatsoever. He has voted against abortion, voted against making it legal for teens to get an abortion without parents consent, voted against making partial birth abortion legal, and has basically voted to shut down abortion when and wherever the opportunity has arisen. Not only that, but he has also voted against anything that might in any way infringe on the sanctity of human life, no matter how small the effect. McCain voted against legalizing embryo stem cell research and argued that in its place we should instead use adult stem cells because they are not embryos, but have all the same properties and would give the same benefits that embryo stem cells would give. Also, he voted against cloning in any form because it also violates the sanctity of human life by making all of us just another cog in the machine that can be replaced at any time. How do the scientists know what works in cloning? They have to experiment and that involves taking usually animals or maybe humans and using them to do their experiments. Now I’m not a animal rights activist, don’t get me wrong, I hunt and fish, but it truthfully surprises me that animal rights activists haven’t made a bigger stir in regards to this. In my personal opinion, John McCain is the right pick if you are voting for the rights of children and the unborn who can’t stand up for themselves.