Friday, October 24

Comparison of Obama/McCain on Life Issues

Abortion
Obama supports abortion rights and thinks the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion was rightly decided.

  • Obama in 2006 was one of 42 senators who voted against advancing a bill to criminalize transport of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion. (Senate Roll Call Vote 263, Sept. 29, 2006)
  • Obama advocates a comprehensive sex-education program in which both abstinence and contraception are priorities. He also says, "we should make sure that adoption is an option."

McCain opposes abortion rights. He thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

  • McCain was among the 57-senator majority that voted to advance the bill to criminalize transport of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion. (Senate Roll Call Vote 263, Sept. 29, 2006)
  • McCain in 2003 was on the winning side of a 64-34 vote to ban an abortion procedure opponents call "partial birth" abortion, except when it is needed to save the woman's life. (Senate Roll Call Vote 402, Oct. 21, 2003)
  • McCain in 1993 was one of 59 senators who voted against allowing federal funding for most abortions. (Senate Roll Call Vote 290, Sept. 28, 1993)
  • McCain supports abstinence-based initiatives and has said that he hopes there might be "a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant … because abortion is no longer necessary."

Stem Cell Research
McCain supports federally funded embryonic stem cell research on existing lines of stem cells, but not new lines.

McCain opposes embryonic stem cell research that uses cloned human embryos. In 2006 he supported a trio of U.S. Senate bills designed to increase federal funding for adult stem cell research, ban the creation of embryos for research and offer federal support for research using embryos slated for destruction by fertility clinics. In 2007, in what he described as "a very agonizing and tough decision," he voted to allow research using human embryos left over from fertility treatments.

Obama supports federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Obama supports relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He voted for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which was vetoed by President Bush. The bill would have allowed federal funding to be used for research on stem cell lines obtained from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments.

sources: Pew Forum on Religion and Politics, CQ Politics, Obama McCain Comparisons

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

can i just say how sad i am that america is so fooled by obama? i am disappointed and grieved. he is charismatic and attractive. he is an amazing speaker but he lacks the inner "stuffing" if you will, to convince me that he really knows what he's talking about and that he actually cares about making america better. the only real things i hear come out of his mouth sound like communist ideas and it bothers me. the socialization of everything leads to a mind set in people that they can't do anything for themselves which is polar opposite of the america i know and love. what happen to the land of opportunity where anybody who has the will and drive to succeed can make it? teach a man to fish, don't hand him a bucket load so that he has to come back tomorrow and get more!

people need to own up to their own responsibility for the economic trouble right now. nobody- including the government- is living within their means. if you over spend your budget the hammer will eventually fall. if you take a home loan that you cannot afford, eventually you're going to be forclosed on. yes, there are extenuating (sp???)circumstances sometimes but come on people. all obama wants to do is pat us all on the back and say the government will fix it so you can all just turn in your brain and become stepford citizens. yes, that is a bitter statement, my apologies :) but this is what i feel. he stands for the destruction of life. there is enough cord blood available everyday to make the need for the cultivation of stem cells obsolete if i'm not totally mistaken. can't we put our funding towards the better use of the resources we have available? what about the war on terror? obama has no military training or sense at all. since when can you negotiate with someone who is completely insane? the leaders that do these attrocities must be... otherwise they would act rationally and work with people to come to a compromise.

pardon my spelling errors and passionate opinions but i just had to say this. i've heard the saying "if you don't stand for soemthing, you'll fall for anything" i think it applies here. america is falling for anything... and so is obama. i don't think HE knows what he stands for either. which is too bad because it would be great to see a minority in office! but it will be equally great to see a woman break that glass ceiling too. and we know where she stands on the issues. and mccain as well. most of what he says is well defined and understandable. he may not be a greta speaker but at least my 4th grader can tell you what he says.

Anonymous said...

I didn't feel like Obama's stand on abortion or stem cell research was very clear. Is this the only information that could be found? I went to Obama's website and couldn't find anything at all on abortion. (Maybe a little direction?) Under what circumstances does he support abortion? The mother's life in jeopardy? The baby's life in jeopardy? Stupid decisions of the mother and she just doesn't want the baby?

From what I've read both here and on his website, it looks like Obama only supports stem cell research based on existing stem cells from fertility treatments, like McCain. Is that right? Or does he support the creation of new embryos solely for the purpose of stem cell research? Sorry, but if you or someone else could clarify these two points a little better for me, it would be great. I'm still a little undecided and these are the two issues I don't feel I've ever got a good answer for on Obama's end. Thanks for summarizing the issues like this. It really helps!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but the above anonymous post is distressing. I'm thankful that Obama doesn't speak to us like we're 4th graders. He is a brilliant man with a depth of understanding and intellect. I appreciate the respect he shows the American people by speaking to us like thinking adults. My impression has been that Obama and his campaign have demonstrated far more maturity and substance. I'm turned off by how the Republicans use terms like socialist, communist, terrorist, Arab, muslim, and the like to demonize Obama and manipulate voters by fear. Obama is none of those things and it pains me to see so many good people on the right adopt that kind of language.

I'll be voting for Senator Obama for reasons of both style and substance.

Anonymous said...

Stacy, There are many websites that give more information on just what Obama does support. He voted against giving babies who survive botched abortions medical care and he’s also for partial birth abortions to name a few. He also stated that giving a response as to whether or not life begins at conception is “above his pay grade” in the interview with Rick Warren. Life begins at conception and has been proven medically.
Here are a few sites and also video that will give everyone a more clear understanding of what this man is all about. It’s not about race but about Principle.

Abortion unfiltered, know the facts - http://abort73.com/

Editorial by pianist Huntley Brown - http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/huntleybrown.asp

Another Mommy blogher had this posted on her site as well. http://dreawd.blogspot.com/2008/10/im-not-scared-to-say.html

Also if you go to www.equip.org look under Hank speaks out and he gives more information on Obama misquoting scripture as well as a few other points.

Melissa said...

I would bet that well over 90% of self-proclaimed Christians voting for Obama are "pro-life"; however, they have been swept away by his rock star charisma and the message of "change". I'm not sure how they justify casting a vote for a man who promised Planned Parenthood that his first act in office would be to reverse all pro-life legislation passed in the last thirty years. I hope they realize that once they cast their vote for Obama they are no longer "pro-life".

Anonymous said...

Do any Obama supporters or undecided voters have any additional information or disagree with any of the information listed above on Obama's views of abortion. Some of the information seemed one-sided, though I'm not 100% sure, so I was looking for more of a definite, unbiased explanation of Obama's stand. There were a few sites I found that seemed to say Obama only supported partial-birth abortion if it was to protect the mother. And also that he supports Roe v. Wade, which I understand as being able to abort until viability of the baby (24-28 weeks), or afterward to protect the mother (sites listed below). Is this right? Any unbiased info would be helpful. I've appreciated all that I've received so far. This is quite the decision to make for an undecided voter who doesn't know fact from fiction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Barack_Obama#Abortion_and_contraception

http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1833496,00.html

Jessi said...

Stacy, you can go here

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/obamas_voting_record_on_aborti_1.html

to check out Obama's voting record on abortion. I also listed some of his record out on my blog as well...

http://crocuses.blogspot.com/2008/08/uh-ohpolitics.html

I think you'll have to copy and paste into your browser because I didn't take the time to link them. If you really want to know the truth, it's not all that hard to find. I would ask, if you care at all about the abortion issue - do you understand what partial birth abortion is? I'm afraid most of America doesn't...to be blunt, (and I'm not sure if you'll feel the need to delete this or not Natalie if you feel it's too graphic), but basically the baby is partially born, and then stabbed to kill it before it is completely out. Seriously...check it out. Again, for anyone who wants to know, the info can easily be found. And so is Obama's voting record...he voted that if a baby is born 'accidentally' in the processing of being aborted, that NOTHING SHOULD BE DONE TO SAVE IT in any way. That's not a biased opinion, it's a very easily verified fact. I beg you, if you are undecided, and the abortion issue is a factor at all in your mind, to please care enough to do your research. Rest assured, Senator Obama has and will do everything in his power to make sure that we can easily and efficiently continue to get rid of unwanted babies.

As for the comment about not using the term 'socialist' - what would be a better term to use to describe or accurately label the viewpoint which Obama holds? That's exactly what it is...really, if everyone supports his views, then there should be nothing wrong with simply calling it what it is.

Shauna said...

Obama's views on abortion are frightening. Remember his speech in which he said his daughters shouldn't have to be "punished with a baby"? But what I find disturbing as well is that he voted against making it illegal for minors to be transported across state lines for abortions. I think it's unbelievable. Didn't we use to call transporting minors across state lines kidnapping?

 

blogger templates | Make Money Online