John McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade

[Q Steph]

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Feb. 19) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain , looking to improve his standing with the party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.

McCain also vowed that if elected, he would appoint judges who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."

The landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade gave women the right to choose an abortion to terminate a pregnancy. The Supreme Court has narrowly upheld the decision, with the presence of an increasing number of more conservative justices on the court raising the possibility that abortion rights would be limited.

Social conservatives are a critical voting bloc in the GOP presidential primaries.

McCain's campaign also announced early Sunday that he had been endorsed by former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, who had been considering his own bid for the White House, and former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, who failed in his bid for the Republican nomination in 1996.

Keating told the crowd that McCain is the "only candidate who is a true-blue, Ronald Reagan conservative."

McCain was scheduled to attend a rally promoting an abstinence program Sunday evening.

McCain has strong name recognition and the largest network of supporters in South Carolina. That backing comes in part from his staunch support for the Iraq war, something on which he focused a day earlier in Iowa. But it's the same state that dealt a crushing blow to his presidential aspirations in 2000.

McCain is trying to build support among conservatives after a recent rebuke from Christian leader James Dobson, who said he wouldn't back McCain's presidential bid. Conservatives question McCain's opposition to a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He opposes same-sex marriage, but says it should be regulated by the states.

It's one matter if someone does not agree with abortion but I'm so sick of bastards like him deciding for everyone! McCain will never know what it is like to be a woman and faced the struggles of a pregnancy. Granted, men should have a say in the decision if it is their child, but ultimately it is a woman's body and therefore her choice. At one point, I considered him as someone I could vote for despite my Democratic allegiance. Never. I'll leave this country before I have to subject myself to the will of neo-conservatists who think their interpretation of "God said so" is gospel.

[Mason]

I really don't want to get into a political debate here, but this is just one more reason for me to like McCain. In my opinion, the only time abortion should be legal is if the woman has been raped. Otherwise, it's my opinion that if you believe you're responsible enough to have sex, then you should be responsible for the consequences. Again, that's just my opinion.

[Tishy]

I think if it is a person's body, that person should make the decisions regarding their body. Period.

[Bree]

He's just trolling to the extreme conservatives and religious radicals for votes.

Is abortion really that much of an epidemic in America? It seems to me that most women are choosing to carry their babies and raise them, despite how they were conceived.

[Brandeis]

Just another man deciding what women should do with their bodies.

Abortion is not for me and I lose total respect for people who use it as a method of birth control, but it's not my desicion to make for anyone else. And I can't imagine us going back to those awful black-market dirty backroom abortions (I have a highly personal aversion to this)

[winterguy125]

I really can't stand McCain, and I really hate that he is trying to pull this crap just so he can get more votes, what's the matter does he feel that not enough people will vote for his sorry a s s.

[Brandeis]

No kidding. He's flip-flopping in the most opportunistic way.

[Ms. Walsh]

I love how men think they should decide what a woman can do with her body.

Abortion is not as big of a problem as ultra-conservatives make it out to be. 1. Over 80% of women are on some type of birth control and 2. most women who want abortions can't even get them, whether due to financial reasons or restrictions set by the state.

I understand why people are against abortion. Their reasons are completely valid, so I'm not attacking anti-abortion advocates. I've never had an abortion, but have had 2 pregnancy scares before and the thought of having to have an abortion crossed my mind (and to be honest, it scared the hell out of me b/c if I had been pregnant, I would definitely have had an abortion.) I've also had friends who have had them, and trust me, they are not simple solutions. Having an abortion is a last choice. It's an operation and can have serious side-effects and complications.

All I'm saying is that if Roe v. Wade is ever going to be overturned, it would put a lot of women's health at risk. Just b/c it's illegal doesn't mean that women are going to find ways to have abortions. Only, instead of being in hospitals and under the care of doctors and nurses, they're going to be in unsanitary conditions.

[juniorz1]

I like McCain but this just SCREAMS politics for me. He's pandering to the neo-conservatives (aka the Religious Right). I doubt there's much validity to what he's saying and that anything regarding Roe vs Wade would change if he became president.

I really don't like that he's doing this though. The one thing I've always liked about McCain is that he tells it like he is. If he continues with this pandering nonsense, I may end up turned off completely.

[Shawn]

Pompous bastard.

A woman's body is HERS to do to it what SHE CHOOSES.

No one has a right to take that personal freedom away.

[Kwing42]

My feeling is if a woman can decide to terminate a pregnancy without the fathers approval, then a father should not be forced to pay for a child he did not want in the first place.

If a woman can term a pregnancy when the man wants the child, then a woman should have no claims to the mans finances should he NOT want the child.

Enough with the double standard already.

I understand its a womans body...but it takes two to tango. I am not saying abortion should be outlawed because I do not think it should be, but I am saying more thought needs to be put into ALL aspects of the situation, NOT just the side of the mother.

And I do not think it is wrong for people to be for or against it and I think it is pretty sad that peoples religous beliefs are called into question because of how they feel, whether they are for or against it.

I do believe it is a choice, but it should be a choice that BOTH in the situation help decide.

Call me stupid, but I think that is fair. This uborn...whatever you want to call it (we were all "it" to and we are humans) should be given a chance if a parent wants to raise it.

[juniorz1]

I can't believe I'm saying this but I totally agree with you on that point kwing. I've always felt that the man should have at least some say on what happens. It's not right that they can be totally shut out if the woman chooses to terminate, but if the woman decides to keep it, then they have no other choice BUT to be involved. Of course they should be involved and help financially support their child, I do not quibble there. But they also should have at least a little bit of say in whether the fetus that is 1/2 made up of their DNA gets the opportunity to develop into a full-grown, healthy baby.

[Bree]

Your last paragraph convinces me that Roe vs. Wade probably won't be overturned for a while, because of the threat of resorting to back alley abortions.

I think the ultra-conservatives and the religious fanatics should be worried more about the unwanted kids languishing in foster care, waiting to be adopted, or worse, in abusive foster parent situations. We need to be concerned about the children already here than the ones who aren't yet. Too many kids in this country are not having the life they deserve, but do you see anti-abortionists speaking up for them, worried about their rights?

[Kylie]

I bet he'll be showing up spouting that message on ABC soon. AMC will probably have him on to "preach" to us soon too. I'm not going to say a word. But you can all thank AMC for making this subject my passion. As long as their is breath in my body, Roe will not go down with a fight. It's already become my passion, and my cause. My body is my body, and no man in Washington who doesn't give a damn about me or why I choose to do what I want with my body, is going to tell what decision I must make about my body.

[Keith]

I'm personally pro-choice, because just beign pregnant is not enough of a reason to brign a child into this world. I see too many bad situations for kids to think anything else.

McCain's never had my vote. Guess that's not changing.