McCain: Roe v. Wade "should be overturned"

Conservative Arizona Senator John McCain said in his latest in South Carolina, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned..." McCain also stated that he would appoint judges who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench" should he be elected for the presidency in 2008.

Roe v Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) gave women the right to terminate a pregnancy via abortion.

According to the Roe decision, most laws against abortion violated a constitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision overturned all state and federal laws outlawing or restricting abortion that were inconsistent with its holdings. Roe is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history. Its lesser-known companion case, Doe v. Bolton, was decided at the same time in 1973.

The central holding of Roe v. Wade was that abortions are permissible for any reason a woman chooses, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable,’ that is, potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks." The decision prompted national debate that continues to this day about whether abortion should be illegal, about who should decide whether it is illegal, about the role of the Supreme Court in constitutional adjudication, and about the role of religious and moral views in the political sphere. Roe v. Wade reshaped national politics, dividing much of the nation into "pro-choice" and "pro-life" camps, and inspiring grassroots activism on both sides.

Critics describe Roe as illegitimate for straying from the text and history of the Constitution, and imposing abortion policy on the states and Congress contrarily to American principles of federalism and democracy. Another criticism of Roe is that it failed to recognize the personhood of fetal human life, either beginning at conception or later. Supporters describe Roe as vital to preservation of women's equality, personal freedom, privacy, and the primacy of individual rights, although the opposition to Roe often references the primacy of the individual when referring to the fetus.

By declaring that he is against abortion, McCain is alienating himself from many voters that are pro-choice. I believe that this will ultimately hurt his chance for presidency. The last true conservative president was Ronald Regan (40th President of the United States, 1981-1989).