When it Comes to Women’s Health, John McCain is Just Plain Out of Touch
A guest post from David Greenberg, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette
John McCain is one of only a few Senators to earn a Zero percent lifetime rating from Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund, and he only scored that high because the organization doesn’t have a lower rating. Let’s look at how he accomplished this.
McCain is so extremely anti-choice that he believes that Roe was wrongly decided, saying, “I do not support Roe verses Wade. It should be overturned.” (Sen. McCain, Associated Press, February 19, 2007).
He further stated, “If I am fortunate enough to be elected as the President of the United States, I pledge to you to be a loyal and unswerving friend of the right to life movement.” (Statement by Sen. McCain read by Sen. Brownback at the March for Life, Washington, DC, January 22, 2008).
Further, in an interview with George Stephanopoulous on ABC’s This Week, McCain said, “I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should, could overturn Roe v. Wade”. (January 19, 2006).
But Senator McCain is also opposed to providing birth control to prevent the need for abortion. Let’s look at his record:
He voted against requiring health care plans to cover birth control (3/22/03).
He voted against comprehensive, medically accurate sex education (7/25/06).
He voted against international family planning funding (3/14/96).
He voted against funding to prevent teen and unintended pregnancies (3/17/05).
He voted against public education for emergency contraception (3/17/05).
And he voted against restoring Medicaid funding that could be used for family planning for low-income women (3/17/05).
NPR reported (2/2/08) that, “Many Republican voters seem to believe, incorrectly, that the current Republican front-runner, Arizona Senator John McCain, supports abortion rights.”
John McCain wants us to believe that he’s a moderate who supports improving the health of women in the United States, but in fact he’s among the most extreme members of Congress who voted against common sense measures on family planning, sex education and access to basic healthcare.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Great post! Thanks for continuing to spread the word about John McCain… a ‘moderate’ he is not. I will be volunteering all summer long for Planned Parenthood in Clackamas County, OR to help get the message out.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
[...] Justice, Sexist, Women’s Rights — 300reasons @ 6:28 pm Double Speak has a great post by guest blogger David Greenberg, CEO of Planned Parenthood of [...]
July 11th, 2008 at 10:48 am
[...] key thing to remember here is that McCain’s record on reproductive rights and sexual health is utterly miserable. His rhetoric is awful, but his record is worse.” Comments 0 Share [...]
August 26th, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] matter to women: David Greenberg, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood in Oregon, had an especially good item this week on the subject. John McCain is one of only a few Senators to earn a Zero percent lifetime [...]
September 1st, 2008 at 4:30 pm
[...] through the nose, out through the mouth…. From David Greenberg, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood in [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
[...] someone claims to support him “as a woman.” Listen carefully, though — you’ll never hear him actually take the women-friendly stances on these issues. McCain isn’t even in favor of equal [...]