Letter to the Editor

Published: October 2, 2008

To the Editor:

While the Georgia Bulletin correctly stated how different John McCain and Barak Obama’s positions on abortion were in its article dated Sept. 25, many important details of their actions and plans for our nation were left out. Simply quoting from their Web sites is not enough when their voting records on abortion can give us critical information. Abortion has deliberately taken the lives of 49 million innocent victims in our country since 1973. Depending on what is done in the next four years, we have the opportunity as a nation to begin to end the abortion holocaust, or we can allow it to continue to take millions more lives for many years to come. Catholic voters have the right and duty to know more because so much is at stake.

Here are the specific differences between the two candidates on the issue of abortion:

McCain has stated he opposes Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that has allowed abortion for any reason. He favors bills that limit abortion on demand.

Obama says he “will make preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as president.” He is a co-sponsor of the “Freedom of Choice Act,” a bill that would invalidate virtually all state and federal limitations on abortion, including partial-birth abortion.

McCain voted to ban partial-birth abortion and said that the Supreme Court ruling which upheld the ban (Gonzales v. Carhart) “is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life.”

Obama disagreed and said he was “extremely concerned that Gonzales v. Carhart will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose.”

McCain is against making taxpayers pay for abortion and voted for the Hyde Amendment which prohibits taxpayer finding of abortion through Medicaid.

Obama supports taxpayer funding of abortion. He voted against legislation in the Illinois State Senate that prohibited taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortion. He says he does not support the Hyde amendment.

McCain favors parental consent. He voted to support a bill that would require an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.

Obama voted to block a bill that would require an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.

McCain voted for legislation that provides protection for babies who survive abortions equal to protection received by babies who are spontaneously born prematurely.

Obama voted three times against a bill in the Illinois State Senate that would have provided protection for babies who survive abortions equal to protection received by babies who are spontaneously born prematurely.

Because of their differing philosophies, we can expect their handling of other issues concerning abortion to be different. Conscience-clause laws protecting medical professionals and hospitals who oppose abortion and laws guaranteeing a woman the right to know medical facts before she has an abortion would be eliminated if Obama’s “Freedom of Choice Act” is passed.

Because Obama says that preserving Roe v. Wade will be a priority as president, we can expect him to choose Supreme Court justices who will also want to continue to keep abortion legal with no restrictions.

Since John McCain has stated that he opposes Roe v. Wade, we can expect him to choose Supreme Court justices who will want to restrict abortion. This is a very important issue because at least one Supreme Court justice is expected to retire in the next four years.

There is also the strong possibility of foreign policy differences. In the past, presidents and legislators who supported abortion in our country have promoted it abroad as well. These same presidents and legislators have voted to deny food and aid to poor pro-life countries unless they change their laws to legalize abortion.

Brenda Stoll, Lilburn