Shifting Positions on Abortion

BUSH
ON MEET THE PRESS LAST NOVEMBER:
"I understand there's going to be abortions... I hope they're rare... I want to tell you something, though: the country is not ready for a constitutional amendment. There is no chance, at this moment, that there'd be a two-thirds vote out of the House and the Senate."

IN IOWA TWO WEEKS AGO:
Bush says the Roe v. Wade decision "was a reach" that overstepped constitutional bounds. Two day later, he adds, "I think that the Republican Party ought to keep its pro-life plank the way it's written now." It calls for a constitutional amendment banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

IN LAST WEEK'S DEBATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE:
"Our party must not abandon our pro-life position, but we must welcome people from different persuasions into our party--or different points of view into our party."

MCCAIN
TO THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE LAST AUGUST:
"I'd love to see a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force x number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

IN SOUTH CAROLINA TWO WEEKS AGO:
McCain calls the Roe v. Wade decision "overreaching" and "flawed" but says laws should make exceptions for rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.

IN NEW HAMPSHIRE LAST WEEK:
Asked if his teenage daughter became pregnant, would he tell her she could not get an abortion, McCain says, "The final decision would be made by Meghan with our advice and counsel." He later calls reporters to say it would be a "family decision, not her decision."