Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has formed an exploratory committee for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, on Sunday at an event in Spartansburg, S.C., said he does not support Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court decision that effectively barred state abortion bans -- and that the decision should be overturned, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports (Davenport, AP/International Herald Tribune, 2/18). McCain also said that if elected president he would appoint judges who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench" (Davenport, AP/Los Angeles Times, 2/20). McCain during a news conference on Monday in Vero Beach, Fla., said claims that he has changed his position on Roe are "false," adding that his position on the case is consistent with his record on abortion-rights issues (Bierschenk, TCPalm, 2/20).
Romney Discusses Embryonic Stem Cell Research Opposition
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Monday in an interview with the Associated Press discussed his opposition to some forms of human embryonic stem cell research, saying that he believes that researchers are able to obtain the "stem cells necessary for research through means that don't represent a serious, moral problem," the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Romney said he favors research using embryonic stem cell lines currently eligible for federal funding (Jackson, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/19). Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by President Bush on that date (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/19). Romney also said he supports work on adult stem cells and, if elected, he would increase funds for such research. "It avoids all of the moral concerns and therefore presents scientific opportunity without moral dilemma," he said, adding, "And I found no one to dispute the potential of such avenues of exploration that was able to convince me that these did not have merit" (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/19).
Opinion Piece
Romney during a 2005 interview did "his best not to explain his views on abortion," and his changing positions on abortion rights and other issues have amounted to an "[e]xtreme [m]akeover," Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus writes in an opinion piece (Marcus, Washington Post, 2/21). Since Romney first ran for U.S. Senate in 1994, he has acknowledged that his position on abortion has changed from "proudly" supporting abortion rights to saying that he would "like to see" Roe overturned. When Romney ran for governor in 2002, he promised to "preserve the status quo" on abortion rights in the state and oppose any changes to state laws that restricted or increased access to abortion. However, Romney in 2004 said when he studied human embryonic stem cell research, he experienced an "awakening that led him to the conclusion that 'the sanctity of life had been cheapened' by the Roe decision" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/13). Marcus recalls that during an interview with several Post staffers two years ago, "It was hard to know what Romney actually thought about abortion rights other than that this was a political minefield it was best to avoid stepping into for as long as possible," adding that his position on the issue has "[e]volved" since(Washington Post, 2/21).
Romney on Sunday in an interview on ABC's "This Week" discussed abortion rights and stem cell research, among other issues (Stephanopoulos, "This Week," ABC, 2/18). Video of the segment is available online. A transcript of the segment also is available online.
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