Posted on 02/18/2008 1:56:31 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Leading Pro-Life Congressman Chris Smith Says John McCain Opposes Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 18, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New Jersey congressman Chris Smith has led the pro-life charge in Congress for decades on abortion and bioethics issues. In a Monday interview, Representative Smith said likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain is pro-life on abortion and believes in protecting unborn children.
"He is pro-life in his heart of hearts, in my opinion," Smith told the Washington Times.
He said McCain's position on opposing abortion dates back decades and that his voting record on abortion matches his speeches on the campaign trail.
Smith also told the newspaper that there is little reason not to side with McCain when compared with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- two Democrats with decidedly pro-abortion views.
"The extreme positions taken by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been almost completely obscured, as it often is, by the focus on the Republican candidate," Smith said. "Some people like to be known as the education president. They will be known as the abortion president."
The praise for McCain's pro-life view on abortion also comes from those Arizona elected officials who know him best.
Jan Brewer, Arizona's secretary of state, and former Congressman Matt Salmon both are pro-life and both say McCain's record opposing abortion is crystal clear.
"I have been on the campaign trail, I have been at meetings with him, I have been at organization and party gatherings, the issue with him is very clear that he's pro-life," Brewer told the Times.
Salmon added that McCain endorsed him in a Congressional primary in part because of his pro-life views.
John Jakubczyk, president of the hometown Arizona Right to Life, told the Times McCain can be trusted to oppose abortion.
"From my perspective, I see him as someone we can enthusiastically support, and I look forward to his getting elected," he said.
McCain: Same-sex marriage ban is un-Republican
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 4:29 PM EDT (2029 GMT)
McCain: The proposed amendment “strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona broke forcefully with President Bush and the Senate GOP leadership Tuesday evening over the issue of same-sex marriage, taking to the Senate floor to call a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban the practice unnecessary — and un-Republican.
“The constitutional amendment we’re debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans,” McCain said. “It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them.”
The proposed amendment died Wednesday after a procedural vote to move the measure to the Senate floor failed 48-50, or 12 votes short of the 60 required by Senate rules. (Full story)
McCain said Tuesday night he would side with opponents of the amendment on the procedural vote to make clear to his constituents that he is against the amendment itself.
McCain also said the amendment “will not be adopted by Congress this year, nor next year, nor any time soon until a substantial majority of Americans are persuaded that such a consequential action is as vitally important and necessary as the proponents feel it is today.”
“The founders wisely made certain that the Constitution is difficult to amend and, as a practical political matter, can’t be done without overwhelming public approval. And thank God for that,” he said.
A constitutional amendment needs a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress to pass. Then the proposal would need the approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures to be ratified.
Bush, who defeated McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, has championed the amendment, saying it is necessary to defend the institution of marriage from “activist judges.”
Social conservatives have been pushing hard for the measure since May, when Massachusetts’ highest court legalized same-sex marriages in the Bay State.
But McCain argued on the Senate floor that there are “far less draconian” remedies, including the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act — which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as a union between a man and a woman and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states — and state constitutional amendments limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
He said if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act or “state remedies to judicial activism fail,” then amending the federal Constitution might be “appropriate.”
But he said the decision in Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriages does “not represent a death knell to marriage.”
“What evidence do we have that states are incapable of further exercising an authority they have exercised successfully for over 200 years?” McCain said.
“We will have to wait a little longer to see if Armageddon has arrived.”
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/14/mccain.marriage/
**NOTE: He voted against it again in 2006.
Again, you have no choice of being on the bus if it goes over the cliff. You may have a chance to avoid it from going over if you’re close enough to continue to give input. At least with McCain, you’ve got a seat. If McCain loses, with Hillary or Obama, the best seat you’re gonna get is chained on the bicycle rack on the back eating dust, diesel smoke and feeling an uneasy feeling the bus left the road.
He supports Alan Keyes?
No wonder he is too embarassed to say so.
You're right, McCain is NOT my ideal candidate. I have no intention of supporting him. And when he loses, please don't blame me or conservatives "who stayed home." After all, he can win without conservatives, right? We're just all bluster and talk anyway.
Innuendo is B.S., nice try.
Most conservatives are not you, and they will vote Republican before turning the helm over to the Commies and islamo facist.
We surley wont blame you for winnig the election.
"The constitutional amendment we are debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans. It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed, and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them, and which they feel capable of resolving should it confront them, again according to local standards and customs.
"If a constitution is to be amended, Mr. President, it should be a state constitution."
Too hard to click on my homepage for you?
His candidate already went over the edge.
Reminds me of Ronald Reagan’s statement:
“Going over a cliff with all flags flying
is still going over a cliff.”
If, at this point, McCain supporters are still having to convince us about McCain’s beliefs on an issue so fundamental, then he is in bad shape.
Why would I be embarrassed to support a true conservative on America’s premiere site?
It’s you who should be embarrassed, supporting the Judas of the Republican Party.
In this odd election situation, you need him more than he needs you.
1999:
On Sunday, on CNN’s “Late Edition,” McCain reiterated that he would not have an abortion “litmus” test for a running mate or Supreme Court nominees. He added that while he ultimately favors repeal of Roe, “we all know, and it’s obvious, that if we repeal Roe v. Wade tomorrow, thousands of young American women would be performing illegal and dangerous operations.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/mccain082499.htm
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that a zillion times.
And you’re going to be voting for Al Gore Lite, for the scam of “global warming” too.
So c’mon back and impress me as to how you’ll give tacit approval to taxation and regulation of something that does not exist.
As I noted to your Extremely Extreme friend, this is going to be a strange election and one I believe where you will need McCain more than he needs your support.
You gotta love these McCain campaign slogans.
“You’re a retard.”
“He won’t need your vote.”
And y’all wonder why few are showing up to vote on the GOP side.
Because your candidate will lose and NEVER stop ONE abortion as president.
(but it does allow him to charge a higher speaking fee at Right to Life dinners in the off season.)
... but yet he has a strong 75 percent prolife voting record.
I wish everyone in Congress had as good of a voting record with Right To Life as John McCain, don’t you?
They have an all about me mentality.
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