Could this issue determine the election?

It’s the one that no one has asked the presidential candidates about in the debates.

But soon after Gov. Sarah Palin came on the Republican ticket, former New York Mayor Ed Koch wrote this piece saying that abortion is driving this election.

I have read in the press that there is one large group of women and men who are enthralled by Palin’s support of the right-to-life movement demonstrated by her qualified support of the Republican platform on the issue of abortion which reads, “…..we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.”

‘Qualified’ because the ticket supports an exception for the life of the mother.

Now look at this statement (especially the divided pro-life movement):

The Constitutional right of abortion is dependent on the U.S. Supreme Court which continues to support that right by a 5 to 4 vote in decision after decision. The Supreme Court membership is aging, and at least two vacancies are expected to be filled in the next presidential term. That one-vote majority can become a majority supporting the end of the right to an abortion in the first and second trimesters. Abortion in the third trimester has already been limited by Supreme Court decision.

I predict that the outcome of the presidential election will depend not on the economy, not on the Iraq war, not on the price of gasoline or the issue of national health insurance, but on the issue of the right to abortion. The next president will make the appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. John McCain has pledged to appoint Justices who support the right-to-life concept. Barack Obama has made clear he will only appoint Justices who will protect the right of choice for those choosing an abortion.

Those are the facts. And they will determine who the next president will be.