South Bend, Ind., Jan 21, 2008 / 01:29 am
Dr. Gerard V. Bradley, a prominent law professor at Notre Dame University, has endorsed Arizona Republican Senator John McCain for president. Bradley also revealed that the senator has moved to a more consistent pro-life position on embryonic stem cell research.
Professor Bradley, an expert in both constitutional law and the role of religion in law, is the current president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.
Writing Friday in an essay at National Review Online, Bradley referenced McCain’s support for the Born Alive Infants’ Protection Act, which prohibited partial-birth abortion. Bradley noted staunch pro-life Kansas Senator Sam Brownback has also endorsed McCain’s candidacy.
Though McCain has supported destructive research on surplus embryos originally created for IVF treatments, the Notre Dame professor believes McCain has reconsidered this support after having face-to-face conversations with Bradley. “Now he realizes that there is no need to exploit ‘spare’ embryos, in light of recent successes with adult cells. And so he has been telling South Carolinians over the last few days,” Bradley wrote. John McCain’s campaign website does not note such a shift.