No exceptions for rape, incest, or saving the mother’s life in the Republican Platform’s anti-abortion plank.
Is there any issue on which McCain will stand up to the religious right? In 2000, and as late as last year, he argued that the Republican Platform ought to be changed so its hard anti-abortion position had exceptions for cases of rape or incest, and where abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. Now he’s backed off.
There’s a polite term for this: flip-flopping.
And then there’s an accurate word for it: cowardice.
Footnote Add this to the list of questions reporters ough to ask McCain: “The Republican Platform calls for an absolute ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. You used to be in favor of changing that language. Has your stance changed? Do you support the platform you’re running on?
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
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