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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (ABP) — John McCain and Barack Obama differed sharply over the legality of abortion in their third and final presidential debate Oct.15 at Hofstra University, in one of the only mentions in this year’s presidential debates of a divisive cultural issue.
While both candidates said they oppose using abortion as a litmus test when appointing federal judges, each made it clear that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to choose an abortion, would weigh heavily in determining whom they would nominate to fill any vacancies on the Supreme Court.
McCain, the Republican candidate, said Roe v. Wade was a “bad decision” and that as president he would find judges with a record of “strict adherence to the Constitution” and not “legislating from the bench.”
The Arizona senator repeatedly said he would base nominations on qualifications and not any “litmus test,” but he added that he did not believe anyone supporting Roe v. Wade would meet those qualifications.
Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, also said he opposes applying a “strict litmus test” for judges, but agreed that Roe v. Wade probably hangs in the balance during the next presidency.
“I am somebody who believes that Roe v. Wade was rightly decided,” Obama said.
“I think that abortion is a very difficult issue, and it is a moral issue and one that I think good people on both sides can disagree on,” Obama said. “But what ultimately I believe is that women — in consultation with their families, their doctors, their religious advisers — are in the best position to make this decision.
“And I think that the Constitution has a right to privacy in it that shouldn’t be subject to state referendum, any more than our First Amendment rights are subject to state referendum, any more than many of the other rights that we have should be subject to popular vote.”
Obama sought to stake out some common ground between the two sides of the abortion debate.
“This is an issue that — look, it divides us,” he said. “And in some ways, it may be difficult to reconcile the two views.”
“But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, ‘We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby.’
“Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that’s where we can find some common ground, because nobody’s pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation.”
It was the first time in three presidential debates for the abortion issue to surface. Americans United for Life praised moderator Bob Schieffer for asking the question.
“In many ways, this is one of the most significant issues for our country that has received the least amount of attention in this campaign,” AUL Action said in a prepared statement.
“Sen. Obama made it clear that his approach to judicial appointments — which goes beyond the Supreme Court — involves a pro-Roe, pro-abortion litmus test,” the statement said. The pro-life group also accused Obama of twisting the facts about his abortion policy.
NARAL Pro-Choice America applauded Obama’s “long-standing commitment to women’s reproductive freedom and privacy” and “common-sense” approach to reducing unintended pregnancies.
“McCain, on the other hand, restated his call for the overturn of Roe v. Wade,” said NARAL president Nancy Keenan. “That’s no secret: McCain has voted against a woman’s right to choose for more than 25 years, and he has even voted against birth control, which is one of the best ways to reduce the need for abortion. McCain’s hypocrisy represents the divisive political attacks that Americans are tired of.”
McCain criticized Obama for opposing a bill in the Illinois senate to provide immediate medical care to an infant “born alive” as the result of a failed abortion and voting against a ban on a late-term procedure that opponents call “partial-birth” abortion.
Obama said he opposed the Illinois legislation because there was already a law on the books requiring lifesaving treatment and the new bill would have undermined Roe v. Wade. He said he supports a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortion, but only if it includes exceptions for the mother's life and health. Abortion-rights opponents have repeatedly attempted to pass bans that did not include health exceptions.
McCain dismissed the necessity of health exceptions, saying the “health of the mother” has been “stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything.”
“That's the extreme pro-abortion position, ‘health,’” McCain said.
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