I must admit to getting caught up in the current speculation over who Senator Obama and Senator McCain will select as their vice presidential running mate.  From the moment both presumptive nominees were identified, the press and political junkies have been making lists of potential vice presidents and checking them twice for strengths and weaknesses.  Choice has long been held as a litmus test issue for candidates of both major political parties and the same may hold true this year.  Many supporters of Senator Clinton are looking to see whether she will be Senator Obama's choice or, if not, whether the person who is selected will be as strongly pro-choice as she is.  Obama must also maintain the support of the traditionally pro-choice Democratic base while also attracting independent and moderate Republicans who may not be solidly pro-choice to his side.  Senator McCain, meanwhile, must balance the expectations of the socially conservative Republican Party base with his need to attract independent voters.  McCain supporters hope that his vice presidential selection will balance the Republican ticket with youthful regional appeal and add a depth of economic policy experience without alienating anti-choicers.  The wild card for McCain is whether the anti-choice base will be a stronger voting force than the many pro-choice Republican and Independent voters a June 2008 NARAL Pro-Choice America poll identified as pulling away from McCain because of his anti-choice positions. 

The decision is now in the hands of the presumptive nominees and their vice presidential selection committees, but pro-choice voters will benefit from an exploration of the women and men who would be vice president and their records on choice.   

Let's start our review from the left. Senator Obama, having secured the endorsement of both Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, would seem to have an easier pro-choice path but his newness to the political scene has some pro-choice voters looking toward the vice presidential selection process as Obama's choice courage test.  Obama's short list seems to be fluid but a few names have maintained a presence for several weeks.  Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and recently Representative Chet Edwards of Texas are each garnering a lot of speculation in the press.  Recent news that Senator Clinton's supporters may make a run at the Democratic Convention has renewed speculation over what her role will be if she is not selected for the bottom half of the Democratic ticket.  Despite the joint statement of unity issued by Senator Obama and Senator Clinton in response, a leaked video clip that appears to show Senator Clinton encouraging her supporters to take their fight to the convention floor has stirred up concerns about party unity and re-energized talk that the clearest path to unity is an Obama-Clinton ticket.  

Senator Clinton's record on choice is well known to voters, but some of the other people on Obama's short list boast records more familiar to regional supporters than to a national political audience.  Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, once a presidential candidate himself, accepts the view of the Catholic Church that life begins at conception. Biden has stated his opposition to public funding for abortion and his support of a partial-birth abortion ban but that he supports Roe v. Wade.  Biden was rated 60% by NARAL Pro-Choice (2007) and rated 100% by Planned Parenthood (2006).  Project Vote Smart has a listing of Senator Biden's voting record on abortion. 

When Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia ran for office he stated his intent to promote abstinence and ban partial-birth abortion.  He has promised to reduce abortion rates in Virginia by enforcing current state restrictions, passing a ban on partial-birth abortion while ensuring women's access to health care, including legal contraception.  Kaine, a practicing Catholic, has a faith-based opposition to abortion.  Yet in 2007 Kaine moved to cut off state funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, citing recent studies finding that teenagers should also be taught about birth control and condoms to protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. 

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana has voted against defining a fetus as eligible for SCHIP, prohibiting minors from crossing state lines for abortion services, barring HHS grants to organizations that perform abortions and against maintaining an abortion ban on military bases.  Bayh has voted for expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines, notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions, $100M to reduce teen pregnancy through education and contraceptives and in support of banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life.  Senator Bayh was rated 100% by NARAL (2007) and rated 92% by Planned Parenthood.  Project Vote Smart a listing of Senator Bayh's voting record on abortion.  

Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas was endorsed by Planned Parenthood for years as pro-choice and columnist Robert Novak branded her a pro-choicer's dream V.P. choice.  Sebelius describes herself as personally pro-life, but she is opposed to efforts to eliminate or reduce abortions primarily by criminalizing abortion procedures.  Sebelius vetoed anti-choice legislation in Kansas in 2003, 2005, 2006, and again in 2008 when she vetoed the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.  

Representative Chet Edwards of Texas is a newcomer to the Democratic potential running mate list.  Edwards has voted against making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime, banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother's life, funding for health providers who don't provide abortion information and against banning family planning funding in United States foreign aid.  Representative Edwards has been rated 100% by NARAL and rated 82% by Planned Parenthood. 

To the right are Senator McCain's potential running mates.  Recently former Pennsylvania Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, who is on Senator McCain's short list and who has been the subject of much speculation in the press, re-confirmed his pro-choice position during an appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos.  Ridge also said that he did not think Senator McCain would make choice a litmus test for potential vice presidential candidates.  Since the economy has emerged as the top issue of concern to voters this election year it would seem logical that McCain would select a running mate with that in mind since his economic credentials have been an issue.  But Ridge's comments raise the question of whether McCain, who has a history of alienating social conservatives within the Republican Party, can afford to overlook a vice presidential prospects pro-choice record in favor of a person with an impressive economic policy resume.  On McCain's short list are Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, Representative Rob Portman of Ohio, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. 

Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia voted for restricting interstate transport of minors seeking abortion services and making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. Cantor has voted in favor of banning partial-birth abortion except to save a mother's life, funding for health providers who do not provide abortion information, banning family planning funding in United States foreign aid and in support of making it a federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes.  Representative Cantor was rated 0% by NARAL and 0% by Planned Parenthood.  Project Vote Smart has listed Representative Cantor's voting record. 

Governor Mitt Romney was pro-choice then switched position shortly before running as a candidate for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination.  In 2002 Romney said he supported the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe versus Wade and funding of abortion services through Medicaid in answers to a questionnaire submitted by Planned Parenthood.  By 2007 Romney had received the Political Leadership award from Massachusetts Citizens for Life at a Mothers' Day dinner. Romney describes himself as a "convert" to the anti-choice cause in the tradition of Ronald Reagan. 

Representative Rob Portman of Ohio is an American lawyer and politician who has served in two cabinet positions and as a member of Congress. Most recently, Portman was Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  While in office Portman voted in favor of banning partial-birth abortion except to save a mother's life, funding for health providers who do not provide abortion info, banning family planning funding in United States foreign aid and in support of making it a federal crime to harm a fetus while committing a crime.  It comes as not surprise that Portman was rated 0% by NARAL Pro-Choice America.  

Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is said to be solidly anti-choice but not in public.  As Andy Birkey detailed in his article Gov. Pawlenty and the Evangelicals: Where He Stands on Hot-Button Issues, Pawlenty's evangelicalism has elevated him to top of the running mate wish list for social conservatives despite his lack of public statements on his religious beliefs. 

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is also solidly pro-life.  Jindal is the darling of the Republican Party right now, having demonstrated the ability to campaign on a socially conservative platform with charisma and cross party appeal.   While serving in Congress. Jindal voted against allowing human embryonic stem cell research and he voted in favor of restricting interstate transport of minors to seeking abortion services.  Jindal has been rated 0% by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood. 

Clearly the battle lines on choice extend to the potential vice presidential candidates because both major parties need their base supporters and are unwilling to risk those guaranteed votes for the possibility of new voters.  Both vice presidential selection committees must now vet candidates for their ability to balance out their party's presumptive nominee's weak points while also considering the candidates regional appeal and their ability to energize the base.  With future retirements on the Supreme Court looming in the next few years, the cost to reproductive justice could be high.