McCain calls for Roe vs Wade to be overturned

This may not seem like a particularly interesting story to some, but the significance of the Republican contender for the White House - who has supported Roe vs Wade in the past - is a pretty major shift. Presumably the change in direction is part of his presidential candidate campaign. He's also recently taken on the former debating coach for Jerry Falwell evangelical Liberty University, Brett O'Donnell, to advise on communication strategy.

Transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask one question about abortion. Then I want to turn to Iraq. You’re for a constitutional amendment banning abortion, with some exceptions for life and rape and incest.

MCCAIN: Rape, incest and the life of the mother. Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So is President Bush, yet that hasn’t advanced in the six years he’s been in office. What are you going to do to advance a constitutional amendment that President Bush hasn’t done?

MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’d be for that?

MCCAIN: Yes, because I’m a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.

It's actually quite a sophisictaed political position to take, he's anti-abortion accept in specifc cases, which will appeal to the left of the Republican vote, whilst also stating that he wants to repeal Roe vs Wade and put control of abortion in the hands of the states. Such a move, if achievable, would remove the wedge aspect from Presidential politics and Supreme Court appointments, which personally I think would be good thing to do as abortion is such a divisive issue in the US.