Looking at a recent page on the National Right To Life Committee (NRLC) website, they are "grateful for the strong pro-life voting record on abortion of Senator John McCain, and appreciates the pro-life position he has taken in his Senate campaigns and in this presidential campaign."
So who said McCain was not a pro-life candidate? The answer, below the fold.
It was the NRLC themselves.
From their own archives:
Senator John McCain (R-Az.), a leading contender for the Republican nomination for President, said on August 19, "Certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade," the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand.
Note: this was for the 2000 election. The press release continues:
McCain was interviewed by the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle. McCain again expressed opposition to reversing Roe, and offered a more detail rationale for that position. McCain's statement, as published in the paper's August 20 edition, was as follows:
"I'd love to see a point where it [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary.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 repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to (undergo) illegal and dangerous operations."
NRLC Executive Director David N. O'Steen, Ph.D., commented, "In contending that legal abortion is 'necessary' and that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned because it would 'force' women to undergo dangerous illegal abortions, McCain parroted arguments of the pro-abortion movement. A candidate who argues that legal abortion is 'necessary' is not a pro-life candidate."
McCain is then accused of something historically surprising:
Flip Flop?
...a phrase I thought was first used in a presidential election context in 2004. It seems the Republicans are quite prepared to eat their own after all.
The NRLC then accuses McCain of attempting to clarify his opinion (translation: towing the old Party line) with:
Muddled "Clarifications"
...and ends with the assertion that McCain wants to limit free speech (but then again, what Republican doesn't?). So there you have it.
The reason I'm writing this diary today is because of a letter in my local newspaper where the writer says:
I would never vote for a candidate who wasn’t anti-abortion.
But he also says:
Democratic Party leadership did not allow the late Gov. Bob Casey to speak at their 1992 national convention because of Mr. Casey’s anti-abortion stance...
...even though the facts are: Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Senators John Breaux and Howell Heflin, and five anti-abortion Democratic governors did speak at the Convention in '92. It was Casey's opposition to the Clinton-Gore ticket that earned him the snub that year.
I have, of course, written to the local paper in response:
It is always a pleasure to be able to correct errors in letters from our Conservative friends, and Joseph J. Ameika's letter (Wednesday) gives me such an opportunity.
Mr. Ameika states that Governor Casey was not allowed to speak at the 1992 Democratic Convention "because of Mr. Casey's anti-abortion stance." If this were the case, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Senators John Breaux and Howell Heflin, and five anti-abortion Democratic governors would have been barred too. Governor Casey did not endorse the Clinton-Gore ticket and this is why he was not invited to speak, but thank you for trying to spread this old gem.
Mr. Ameika also states that he would "never vote for a candidate who wasn't anti-abortion." This means that he will not vote for the candidate that said abortions would always be a medical necessity because a repeal of Roe vs. Wade "would then force X number of women in America to (undergo) illegal and dangerous operations" and "if we repeal Roe v. Wade tomorrow, thousands of young American women would be performing illegal and dangerous operations." Comments from this candidate prompted National Right To Life Committee (NRLC) Executive Director David N. O'Steen to say "a candidate who argues that legal abortion is 'necessary' is not a pro-life candidate."
That candidate is John McCain.
I applaud Mr. Ameika's stand on this issue, and I fully expect all other voters that vote primarily on this issue to stand up for their convictions too. And not vote for any candidate the NRLC has declared is "not a pro-life candidate".
I will not, however, be holding my breath. The worth of a Conservative's words are cheap indeed in this day and age.