In my last post on “Abortion and Obama,” I wrongly said that I believed that the President ultimately had little say in the issue of abortion and that it was a decision to be made or reversed more on the state and local level. After having several conversations with people, I stand corrected..

The issue of abortion and any possible reversal of the Roe vs. Wade court decision to legalize abortion rests largely on the shoulders of the Supreme Court justices. There are three (potential) positions to be filled by new Supreme Court justices in the upcoming Presidential term, provided the current justices retire (which is likely, but from my understanding, the justices are waiting for more liberal justices to follow in their steps). The President nominates the new Supreme Court justices who remain in office until they die or retire (or under extreme situations, are removed by a 2/3 vote in both the House and the Senate – virtually impossible unless the justice performs some illegal act… he cannot be removed based on a specific ruling). Because the President is responsible for nominating the Justices, abortion does still remain an important issue. If McCain is elected, he has promised to nominate new justices to reverse the Roe vs. Wade court decision. However, if Obama is elected, he will most assuredly appoint justices who will make sure Roe vs. Wade remains.

So although the President does not directly have the final say in the matter, due to the current positions opening up in the Supreme Court, this Presidential election will be an important one in regards to the issue of abortion.

However, the issues of foreign and international affairs, new energy, the economic crisis, health insurance, education, taxes, and numerous others still remain very important in this upcoming election. Abortion is important, but not the only important issue to be considered.