AAguilar- Period 3

John McCain on Abortion and Gay Rights

“John McCain is an experienced conservative leader in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. He is a common sense conservative who believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values.” As a conservative republican John McCain officially does not believe in abortion or gay marriage, but has contradicted himself on both topics over the years, and has changed his position several times. (Source: A)

Since the 2008 campaign is not McCain’s first campaign for presidency (he also ran in the 2000 election), his views on particular matters, including abortion, have changed. At the beginning of the 2000 campaign, on July 2nd 1998, McCain claimed that “abortions should be legal only when pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the women is endangered”, but by the end of that election he claimed that he would “not support the repeal of Roe v. Wade ”, which states, “abortions are permissible for any reason a woman chooses, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable,’ that is, potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid.” However during this same campaign he also declared, “I am proud of my pro-life record in public life, and I will continue to maintain it… As a leader of a pro-life party with a pro-life position, I will persuade young Americans to understand the importance of the preservation of the rights of the unborn.” (Sources: A and B)

Even though he supported the Roe v. Wade decision, to an extent, in the 2000 campaign, by 2007 his ideas on the matter had radically changed and he stated, “It should be overturned.” Throughout the 2008 campaign he has maintained his position against abortion, and claims that if he were elected “Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states.” (Source: E)

Although McCain has been inconsistent with his views on abortion, he has maintained a firm position on the promotion of adoption as an alternative. He believes that abortion rights and anti-abortion activists should cooperate on issues of foster care and adoption, as they are good alternates. McCain states, “I don’t believe they should advocate abortion with my tax dollars,” but he does plan to fund programs that will promote the use of alternatives including adoption education, and tax deductions for qualified adoption expenses, as well as the removal of barriers to interracial and interethnic adoptions. John McCain is an adoptive parent himself, which creates some bias, but his views create a reasonable solution for this political issue. “Both pro-life and pro-choice people strongly that we need to eliminate abortion. I and my wife, Cindy, are proud adoptive parents. We encourage adoption in America. We need to improve foster care dramatically. We can work together. We can have respectful disagreements on specific issues, and we can work together on this one.” (Sources: B, D, and E)

Similar to his views on abortion, McCain changed his mind on stem-cell research as well. In the 2000 campaign, McCain was a pro-life candidate, but unexpectedly voted to support fetal tissue research, “because it has helped make progress against Parkinson’s disease,” claiming that he had made his decision, “after a lot of study, consultation, and a lot of prayer”; and then went on to add that he would, “like to have less intensity on this issue.” Countering his previous support for stem-cell research, McCain has taken a position against stem cell research and has promised to fund research programs, including amniotic fluid and adult stem cell research, as well as any other types of scientific study that does not involve the use of human embryos. (Sources: C, D, and E)

Gay marriage is yet another subject that McCain is knowingly against; however he does has been accused of “flip-flopping” his ideas on not only this issue, but also several other issues, especially during his current, 2008 campaign. On October 18th 2006, in “Hardball” interview with MSNBC McCain even made the following statements within 11 minutes of each other: “I think gay marriage should be allowed if there is a ceremony kinda thing if you wanna call it that, I don’t have any problem with that,” and then claimed, “I think that private ceremonies are fine, but gay marriage should not be legal.” In the Huffington Post in particular, McCain called out on these conflicting views, and Hoadley states, ‘‘Sometimes McCain gets a pass because he wasn't a staunch supporter of the federal marriage amendment, but he showed his true colors when he campaigned...to pass the marriage ban in Arizona.’ (McCain starred in two television advertisements supporting the ban.) ‘When the community is looking at McCain, they need to look at the true record he was adamantly opposed to one of the groundbreaking victories in 2006.’” Some even claim that he is “using the same tactics that George Bush used against him in 2000;surreptitiously trying to exploit anti-gay prejudice for votes.” Despite his clashing statements, on paper McCain claims to be against gay marriage, as he is intransigent conservative republican. (Sources: F, G, and H)

Link to October 18th 2006 “Hardball” interview with MSNBC and other "flip-flop" evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeBw28tX5Nw&feature=related

Sources:
Source A: "John McCain." Wikipedia. Wikipedia. "GNU Free Documentation License". 6 Feb. 2008 http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain.>

Source B: Keyes, "John McCain on Abortion." "Family Conference" if daughter wanted an abortion 26 Jan 2000 06Feb2008 http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/John_McCain_Abortion.htm.>

Source C: "John McCain on Abortion." "Supports fetal tissue research; against over-intensity Jan 22, 2000: 06Feb2008 http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/John_McCain_Abortion.htm.>

Source D: "John McCain on Abortion."Republican Debate at Dartmouth College "Support adoption & foster care; work together on abortion"Oct 29, 1999 : 06Feb2008 http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/John_McCain_Abortion.htm.>
Source E: "On Issues: Human Dignity & the Sanctity of Life ." John McCain. 2008. John McCain Campaign. 7 Feb 2008 http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/95b18512-d5b6-456e-90a2-12028d71df58.htm. >