John McCain Says He Didn’t Flip-Flop on Wanting Abortion Case Reversed 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 20, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that he didn’t flip-flop when he told an audience at a South Carolina campaign stop over the weekend that he favored reversing Roe v. Wade. Yet, eight years ago he told a newspaper he didn’t think the landmark abortion case should be overturned.
At an appearance with 800 GOP voters on Sunday, McCain said the Supreme Court should reverse itself on Roe and allow states the opportunity to ban abortions.
“I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned,” McCain said.
On Monday, in a visit with voters in Vero Beach, Florida, the Arizona senator said he didn’t flip-flop.
"It is a false claim to say that I have changed my position," McCain said in a press conference following the event.
However, McCain appeared then to be changing his position from a 1999 statement he gave to the San Francisco Chronicle in which he said he didn’t support repealing Roe.
"I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary," McCain told the newspaper at the time. "But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."
Those comments drew strong opposition from pro-life advocates.
David O’Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, complained at the time, "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," O’Steen added then.
McCain’s current stance against Roe drew a much more positive statement from the leading pro-life group.
"National Right to Life is pleased with Senator McCain’s statement," the organization said in a statement to LifeNews.com.
"Roe v. Wade has resulted in the deaths of 48 million unborn children and should be reversed once again allowing legislative bodies to protect unborn children and their mothers," NRLC added.
McCain has previously voted on the Supreme Court case.
In March 2003, pro-abortion lawmakers attached a resolution to the partial-birth abortion ban supporting Roe v. Wade and saying it shouldn’t be overturned. McCain voted against the resolution and it was later removed from the bill.
Yet, in October 1999, McCain was the only member of the Senate to skip two votes on another resolution endorsing Roe. He later came under fire from pro-life advocates during the 2000 Republican presidential primaries for not opposing the provision.
McCain’s weekend comments about the high court’s abortion decision were the second in this presidential campaign cycle.
Because pro-life advocates believe that they could be as close as one vote away from having the Supreme Court overturn the landmark abortion case.
Heading into his presidency, President George W. Bush faced a court that, following the Clinton years, favored legalized abortion on a 6-3 margin.
Bush replaced pro-life Chief Justice William Rehnquist with Chief Justice John Roberts and pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with Justice Samuel Alito. Those appointments are thought to have left the court at a 5-4 pro-abortion majority — meaning the change of just one justice could open Roe up to defeat.
His position on Roe v. Wade is crucial because pro-life advocates believe that they could be as close as one vote away from having the Supreme Court overturn the landmark abortion case.
Heading into his presidency, President George W. Bush faced a court that, following the Clinton years, favored legalized abortion on a 6-3 margin.
Bush replaced pro-life Chief Justice William Rehnquist with Chief Justice John Roberts and pro-abortion Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with Justice Samuel Alito. Those appointments are thought to have left the court at a 5-4 pro-abortion majority — meaning the change of just one justice could open Roe up to defeat.
McCain has typically voted pro-life on abortion-related issues while serving in the Senate.
But, he voted last year in favor of a bill forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research and he upset pro-life groups by sponsoring a major campaign finance reform bill that contained several restrictions on what they could do during elections.
During the Florida stop on Monday, McCain restated his position in favor of the controversial research and taxpayer funding for it.
