By Christopher N. Osher ¦ The Denver Post ¦ 6 September 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS — About a dozen protesters touting causes such as environmental issues and the right for women to have abortions greeted those streaming into the John McCain and Sarah Palin rally Saturday in Colorado Springs.
Toni Panetta, the political director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, targeted McCain's votes opposing federal funding of programs that would pay for birth control for low-income women as well as his call to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
"I'd like to ask Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin to clarify their position on health care policies," Panetta said. "Sen. McCain told us on Thursday that change was coming to Washington. But given Sen. McCain's strong anti-choice positions and given Gov. Palin's pro-life credentials, I'm wondering what type of change they would really bring."
Panetta and the other protesters made their case from the parking lot of the Colorado Jet Center, where the Republican candidates for president and vice president spoke to supporters.
Panetta challenged McCain to look into the eyes of a mother "who struggles to balance the checkbook and make a mortgage payment while choosing between whether to fill a gas tank to take her kids to school or to fill her monthly birth-control prescription."
She added that if McCain and Palin succeed in overturning Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it legal for women to get abortions, she wondered how McCain and Palin would deal with an influx of illegal, back-alley abortions.
"My last question to Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin is, in a world where Roe vs. Wade is overturned, which they both advocate, just like George W. Bush, how much time in prison should a woman serve for having an illegal abortion?" she asked.
"Related to that: Who would provide safe care in states where abortion is illegal if a woman needs an abortion?"
