I speak, of course, of abortion.

It finally came up during last night’s debate — very deftly moderated, I thought, by Bob Schieffer, who showed how an old hand does these things — and Michael Paulson has a summary at his blog:

For the first time in a presidential debate, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama tonight went at it on abortion, and they had a fairly lengthy exchange on the issue (video is below). Each said he did not have a litmus test for choosing a Supreme Court justice, but McCain said he believed Roe vs. Wade was a “bad” decision, while Obama defended it.

McCain criticized Obama’s record on abortion in the Illinois state Senate, saying that Obama voted against “a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born of a failed abortion” and also against a ban on partial-birth abortion. “I don’t know how you align yourself with the extreme aspect of the pro-abortion movement in America,” McCain said. “And that’s his record.”

Obama responded by saying that the medical attention measure was duplicative of an existing law, would have undermined Roe vs. Wade, and was opposed by the Illinois Medical Society. On partial-birth abortion, Obama said he supports a ban but only with an exception for the mother’s health and life. Obama also said “Roe versus Wade probably hangs in the balance” this presidential election, because the next president is likely to nominate at least one Supreme Court justice. And Obama cited “religious advisers” as among those with whom a pregnant woman could consult about whether to have an abortion.

In their discussion, the candidates touched on the question of abortion reduction, which is a theme in the abortion debate this year.

Continue right here for the rest.