In case you missed it, on Friday, ABCNews reported that McCain is poised to "flip" on GOP abortion platform:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces enormous pressure from social conservatives to ignore his repeated commitment to change the GOP's platform on abortion.

"If he were to change the party platform," to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother's life, "I think that would be political suicide," said Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, to ABC News. "I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble."

Hmmmm. This story hasn't really had the traction you might expect it would. Think Progress covered it, but that's all I've seen. Has anyone else seen other coverage?

Hopefully reporters will stay on this story to get to the truth: McCain is anti-choice, and he has the 25-year voting record to back it up. Pandering can't change the truth.

Better late than never, right? From NBC's Mark Murray, check out the two democratic candidates' reactions to McCain's speech on judges (sorry I was slow to post these):

Obama: "The Straight Talk Express took another sharp right turn today as John McCain promised his conservative base four more years of out-of-touch judges that would threaten a woman's right to choose, gut the campaign finance reform that bears his own name, and trample the rights and interests of the American people," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement. "Barack Obama has always believed that our courts should stand up for social and economic justice, and what's truly elitist is to appoint judges who will protect the powerful and leave ordinary Americans to fend for themselves."

Clinton: "We won't take lectures on the right way to approach the Constitution from Sen. McCain, who voted for extreme conservative judges like Justice Thomas. In an effort to pander to conservative voters, Sen. McCain has signaled his intention to appoint right-wing judges who are committed to rolling back women's rights and civil rights, elevating the interests of big business over the rights of workers and consumers, affirming executive branch power grabs, and undermining our common core freedoms. Sen. Clinton has a different vision. She will appoint judges who respect the separation of powers, are steadfast in protecting civil rights and liberties, including the right of privacy, and who cherish equal justice under law."

Sigh. It's so nice to have two fully pro-choice candidates running for the nomination!

Watch the video below of NARAL Pro-Choice America president, Nancy Keenan, as she talks with Jonathan Alter on Verdict with Dan Abrams:

My favorite part is when Abrams feels like he has to decipher McCain's "secret code" on judges saying, "Translation?! Judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade." Right-on.

Nancy is correct - women (including the critical voting bloc of pro-choice republican and independent women) will vote for the democratic candidate when they learn how anti-choice Sen. McCain really is... so let's get out there and spread the word.

Visit MeetTheRealMcCain.com.

Adam Zimmerman is the Legislative Associate with NARAL Pro-Choice America.

John McCain gave a speech on judges yesterday.  I watched it on TV - that is, when the networks didn't cut away to talk about the D.C. Madam and Uma Thurman's stalker - and I saw him.  The funny thing about it, though, is that I could have sworn it was President Bush doing the talking.  

Before I get to the crux of the speech - which, by the way, was filled with enough right-wing code and buzzwords to make a CIA operative proud - I'll show you what I mean. 

Let's play a game.  There are three sets of quotes below.  Each set includes one quote from McCain's speech today, while the other is a Bush quotes on judges.  See if you can decide which quote belongs to which man (yes, that makes you "the decider").  Answers are posted below each set, so don't scroll down too fast!

Set One Quotes

A) "...the courts exist to exercise not the will of men, but the judgment of law.  My judicial nominees will know the difference."
B) "I will look for...jurists of the highest caliber who know their own minds, and know the law, and know the difference."

Set One Answers

A) Bush
B) McCain (Watch video of this quote)

Set Two Quotes

A) "Unfortunately, some judges give in to temptation and make law instead of interpreting.  Such judicial lawlessness is a threat to our democracy -- and it needs to stop."
B) "The moral authority of our judiciary depends on judicial self-restraint, but this authority quickly vanishes when a court presumes to make law instead of apply it."

Set Two Answers

A) Bush
B) McCain

Set Three Quotes

A) "A judge must be modest enough to appreciate the limited role he plays under the Constitution."
B) "My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power."

Set Three Answers

A) Bush
B) McCain

See what I mean?  Bush and McCain are practically twins when it comes to talking about judges.  I wish I could tell you that McCain's speech was groundbreaking or proposed bold new thinking from the right wing.  Instead, it was the same tired, code-filled speech we've been hearing for the past eight years:  railing against "judicial activism," (i.e. Roe v. Wade), expressing fealty to "judicial restraint," (i.e. overturning Roe v. Wade) and criticizing judges who "make law" (i.e. rulings that the right-wing disagrees with).  The beauty of the right-wing code means that McCain doesn't have to mention Roe or abortion directly, but anti-choice activists know exactly what he means. 

So much for straight talk, huh?  About the closest we came to hearing some of that was when McCain promised to nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Sam Alito.  We know what that means, too:  judges who would eviscerate Roe and obliterate reproductive rights.

Actually, to be fair, there was one line in McCain's speech that I really liked:  "The only remedy available to any of us is to find, nominate, and confirm better judges." Couldn't agree more, Senator.  I, for one, could have done without the 303 Bush judicial confirmations over the past seven years.  And the scary part is that there might be more to come.

Take Robert Conrad, for instance. He's been nominated to the 4th Circuit, one of the most significant in the country. Right-wing judges dominated that court for years, but now there's an even split between Democratic and Republican appointees and some vacancies need to be filled.  Bush and the Republicans are crazy for Conrad. 

Why?  Well, he's called Planned Parenthood "a radical, pro-abortion fringe group" that "promotes a radical abortion agenda and "knowingly kills unborn babies."  He served on the board of directors for a so-called "crisis pregnancy center" which spews anti-choice propaganda such as "remember, abortion doesn't erase a mistake - it only adds new ones."  And in an article endorsing dangerous "abstinence-only" programs, Conrad even compared sexually active teenagers to drug dealers and drunk drivers.

What's my point? Not only does his language on judges parrot Bush's, but from Roberts to Alito and everyone in between, John McCain hasn't opposed a SINGLE ONE of President Bush's judicial nominees.  Not one.  You think he'd oppose Conrad? I don't.  You think he'd nominate someone like Conrad as president? I do.  You willing to take that chance? I'm not.

Today, John McCain gave a speech on judges.  It was déjà vu all over again.

Today around 10 a.m., Sen. McCain is scheduled to give a speech at Wake Forest University on judges. Many reporters have received advanced copies of the speech, so here are a bunch of links where you can read their impressions:

Wall Street Journal: McCain Speech to Shed Light On Judicial Philosophy

Marc Ambinder (The Atlantic): What McCain's Speech Isn't About

USA Today: McCain criticizes Obama for vote against chief justice

The Hill: McCain courts right wing

Associated Press: McCain to give speech on judicial appointments

Jonathan Martin (Politico): McCain's message to conservatives on judges and DNC pushback  

In response to media reports on Sen. McCain's prepared remarks, Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America released the following statement:

"John McCain's voting record reads like a Who's Who List of right-wing activist judges who are hostile to the constitutional right to privacy and want to allow politicians to interfere in our most personal, private medical decisions," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "McCain's support of anti-choice judges will be one of many reasons voters, especially pro-choice Independent and Republican women, will not cast their ballots for him in the fall."

It is all too clear why McCain is speaking about judges on a day when most voters are focused on the Democratic primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. We all know that he gets points with the right-wing organizations, but he can't afford to use this rhetoric when trying to reach the pro-choice Independent and Republican women he needs to win in the fall. Hopefully the media won't let him off the hook on this one. 

Click here to read more about McCain's anti-choice record concerning judicial nominees (scroll to the bottom of page 1).  

What does our Magic 8-ball have to say about tomorrow's primaries? Watch this week's Liberty Lowdown to find out!

Also check out our Political Director Beth Shipp's recent blog on the Huffington Post!

If you have any trouble viewing the video, you can watch it on our YouTube channel.

It's Friday! And, at least in DC, the weather is beautiful, so I'm in a good mood today.  And, I'll admit it, a little of it might also have something to do with this kind 'kudos' post I read this AM. It feels good to know that all of the hard work the NARAL Pro-Choice America staff put into our blog and social networking sites is noticed and appreciated by others. Thanks Viva La Feminista!

Anyway... enough of that, and on to some Friday must-read articles:

• The White House Isn't the Only House at Stake on May 6: Check out this blog post from NARAL Pro-Choice America political director, Elizabeth Shipp. In this piece, Beth examines the importance of the May 6 primary (in Indiana and North Carolina), and why voters need to remember the down-ballot races.
• McCain swings outreach to right: Oh dear. This USA Today article discusses McCain's upcoming pitch to conservatives, including a Tuesday speech on judges.  McCain and judges... I can't wait to hear him speak on that one, given that he has voted in favor of four anti-choice U.S. Supreme Court nominees during his 25 years in Congress. Yikes.
• N.C. hospitals bill rape victims: This one really frustrates me. I mean, should rape survivors have to pay for the cost of rape kits? Some North Carolina hospitals are charging rape survivors for the cost of collecting evidence during an emergency room examination. Click here to sign a NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina petition demanding that survivors not be forced to pay for these costs.

So, Happy Friday all, and be sure to check back on Monday for the new edition of "The Liberty Lowdown!"

Wow. You gotta love Jon Stewart and the crew from The Daily Show. Take a look at the video below of the perspective they bring to last week's abstinence-only hearing:

I want to reiterate what fabulous work Jessica has done - not only for NARAL Pro-Choice America, but for the reproductive rights movement as a whole. I know I have learned so much in my short time working with her, and I look forward to following her around Feministing and her book tour for her new book, "He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know."

I put this ask out in the comments section of her 'goodbye' post from yesterday, and I can see a number of you have left some comments (which is awesome), but I want to reiterate here: I encourage everyone to share their favorite "memory" of Jessica's blogging for NARAL Pro-Choice America in the comments below! Have a favorite entry? Favorite article? Please share!

Thanks Jess!