Contact Us   •   Donate   •   Site Guide   •   Site Map   •   Search
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Larger/Smaller Text
Printer Friendly
Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain?

Where do Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain stand on reproductive-rights issues?

Pro-Choice, Pro-Obama!

Supports safe, legal access to abortion care?
 
Sen. Obama said, "I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President."1 Obama - Yes! McCain - No Sen. McCain said that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that recognized a woman's right to choose, should be overturned.2
 
Protects women's access to birth control?
 
He has voted to increase access to family-planning services and is the lead sponsor of a bill to end the birth-control pricing crisis for college students and low-income women.3 Obama - Yes! McCain - No He voted to shut down the major federal family-planning program, which provides millions of women with health-care services ranging from birth control to breast cancer screenings.4
 
Supports medically accurate sex education?
 
He favors comprehensive sex education and voted in favor of funding teen-pregnancy-prevention programs and ensuring that "abstinence-only" programs are medically accurate.5 Obama - Yes! McCain - No He supports abstinence-only policies in our high schools and told the New York Times he was "stumped" whether contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV.6
 
Will appoint fair Supreme Court Justices?
 
He voted against President Bush's anti-choice U.S. Supreme Court nominees, both of whom have cast votes against legal abortion.7 Obama - Yes! McCain - No He has voted in favor of anti-choice Supreme Court Justices like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.8
 

Download this chart as a PDF to print and share with your friends!

Footnotes

1 Statement submitted on NARAL Pro-Choice America's request, May 14, 2007.

2 Ann Althouse, Rudy & Mitt Hem & Haw on Abortion, The New York Times, February 24, 2007.

3 Clinton/Reid amendment to FY'06 Budget Resolution, S.Con.Res.18, March 17, 2005; Prevention Through Affordable Access Act, S.2347, November 13, 2007.

4 Weicker motion to table Helms amendment to FY’89 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.4783, July 25, 1988; motion to invoke cloture on Family Planning Amendments Act, S.110, September 26,1990.

5 Lautenberg/Menendez amendment to the Child Custody Protection Act, S.403, July 25, 2006.

6 Adam Nagourney, McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention, The New York Times, March 16, 2007.

7 Motion to invoke cloture on nomination of Samuel Alito to U.S. Supreme Court, January 30, 2006; vote to confirm nomination of Samuel Alito to U.S. Supreme Court, January 31, 2006; vote to confirm nomination of John Roberts to U.S. Supreme Court, September 29, 2005. Learn more about Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.

8 Motion to invoke cloture on nomination of Samuel Alito to U.S. Supreme Court, January 30, 2006; vote to confirm nomination of Samuel Alito to U.S. Supreme Court, January 31, 2006; vote to confirm nomination of John Roberts to U.S. Supreme Court, September 29, 2005.vote to confirm nomination of Clarence Thomas to U.S. Supreme Court, October 15, 1991.  Learn more about Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, and Justice Thomas.

Back to the top

Elections


Find Your Elected Officials

Enter a 5 or 9 digit zip code below

 

Local Affiliates

Find the NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliate in your state:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice Action Center  |  Issues  |  Elections  |  News  |  About Us  |  Support Us  | 
Need Information About a Pregnancy?  |  Contact Us  |  Get Email Updates  |  Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2008 NARAL Pro-Choice America®. All rights reserved.
Paid for by NARAL Pro-Choice America, www.ProChoiceAmerica.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Powered by Convio