Posted on Apr 8, 2008 | by Michael Foust

WASHINGTON (BP)--National Right to Life has endorsed presumptive Republican nominee John McCain for president, giving him a significant boost in his effort to attract social conservatives.

National Right to Life's board of directors passed a resolution saying it is encouraging pro-lifers to support McCain, describing the Arizona senator as having a consistent congressional record in opposing abortion. National Right to Life, the resolution says, "strongly opposes" Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both of whom are pro-choice.

The endorsement first was reported by LifeNews.com.

McCain, the resolution says, "has consistently taken a strong pro-life position against abortion, has a strong pro-life voting record against abortion and opposes Roe v. Wade." By contrast, Obama and Clinton "have strong positions and voting records in favor of abortion on demand and strongly support the appointment of only U.S. Supreme Court Justices who favor Roe v. Wade."

"National Right to Life supports Senator John McCain for election as President of the United States and strongly opposes both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and urges all pro-life citizens to do likewise," the resolution concluded.

McCain has been at odds occasionally with pro-family leaders on some significant issues, and that divide has prevented some parts of the social conservative community from rallying to his campaign. Perhaps the most significant divide has been on embryonic stem cell research, which McCain supports. But, his pro-life supporters note, he has been on the right side of other life issues, including supporting a ban on both therapeutic and reproductive cloning.

McCain says he would stand up for the "rights of the unborn" as president and nominate Supreme Court justices like John Roberts and Samuel Alito -- two justices championed by pro-lifers.

Robert P. George, a pro-life constitutional scholar and a professor at Princeton University, wrote a column that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer in which he noted McCain's differences with the pro-life community. George concluded that McCain "offers pro-life voters by far the more appealing prospect" when compared to Obama and Clinton.

"[O]n the issue of abortion, there is no comparison between McCain's history of support for the right to life and Clinton's and Obama's implacable opposition to it," George wrote. "While he has not been especially outspoken on abortion-related questions, there is no denying that his pro-life voting record is strong and consistent. Indeed, it is one of the best in the Senate."

McCain's pledge to nominate specific types of justices is significant, George wrote.

"Few elections in our lifetime have been as consequential for the pro-life cause as this year's is likely to be," George wrote. "The next president will likely determine the course of the Supreme Court for decades to come, and will make the difference between continuing the progress made by the pro-life movement in the past three decades or reversing course and reinforcing a culture of abortion and embryo destruction that rejects fundamental human equality.

"Over 40 years of political struggle, the pro-life movement has learned not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. This crucial election is no time to forget that. Pro-life citizens should continue to press the argument with John McCain on points on which we disagree with him. But we should also support him and work hard to get him elected. In a race against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, he is by far the better pro-life choice."

Following is the full text of National Right to Life's resolution:

"Whereas the next President of the United States will be either the nominee of the Republican Party or the nominee of the Democratic Party,

"And whereas both contenders for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, have strong positions and voting records in favor of abortion on demand and strongly support the appointment of only U.S. Supreme Court Justices who favor Roe v. Wade,

"And whereas the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, has consistently taken a strong pro-life position against abortion, has a strong pro-life voting record against abortion and opposes Roe v. Wade,

"Be it resolved that National Right to Life supports Senator John McCain for election as President of the United States and strongly opposes both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and urges all pro-life citizens to do likewise."
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Michael Foust is an assistant editor for Baptist Press.