There’s substantial evidence out there that a non-trivial number of John McCain’s supporters are pro-choice voters who believe that McCain is also pro-choice. Even among well-informed elites, there’s a substantial sentiment that maybe despite McCain’s lifelong voting record he’s “secretly” pro-choice or some such. Sara Blustain has the cure for this kind of thinking:
That, however, is simply not true. There is no “latitude” in McCain’s position on abortion. Interviews with dozens of people who have dealt with him on the issue — pro-choice and pro-life activists, Hill staffers, McCain confidants, pollsters, and staffers — along with a two-and-a-half-decade-long perfectly anti-abortion voting record, make that clear. And his record on related issues, like contraception, is no better.
You have to read the whole article to get the details, but suffice it to say that despite various public statements that have confused people, McCain has a long record as a legislator and it’s one that’s uniformly hostile to birth control access and abortion rights.