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  (Photo: AP Images / Mary Altaffer)
  Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and his wife Cindy greet the crowd after he spoke on the steps of the Yavapi County Courthouse, Saturday, April 5, 2008 in Prescott, Ariz.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s largest and most influential pro-life organization, has announced the “unanimous” decision by its board of directors to back Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

The decision by NRLC’s board of directors to support the Arizona senator in his bid for the presidency was first made known in a report by LifeNews.com, an independent news agency that “reaches more than 250,000 pro-life advocates each week.”

NRLC’s position was later confirmed in an email to The Christian Post, which also received a copy of the passed resolution.

“Be it resolved that National Right to Life supports Senator John McCain for election as President of the United States and strongly opposes both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and urges all pro-life citizens to do likewise,” the statement reads.

Though NRLC has butt heads with McCain in the past – mostly over his stances on embryonic stem cell research and campaign finance reform – the organization noted that his pro-life record was overall consistent, favorable, and markedly different when compared to Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.

"Senator John McCain has consistently taken a strong pro-life position against abortion, has a strong pro-life voting record against abortion and opposes Roe v. Wade,” the group said.

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Obama and Clinton, in contrast, had voting records on abortion that were unacceptable and “100 percent pro-abortion,” NRLC noted.

“Both contenders for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, have strong positions and voting records in favor of abortion on demand and strongly support the appointment of only U.S. Supreme Court Justices who favor Roe v. Wade,” the group stated.

According to NRLC, supporting Senator McCain over any alternative candidate was a matter of “perfect sense,” and told LifeNews.com that it would work to inform voters of the crucial differences between McCain and his opponents.

Though the Arizona senator has often battled with more conservative wings of his party on issues of immigration, same-sex “marriage,” and abortion, McCain has modified his stances recently on a number of issues in order to court more support for his candidacy in November’s upcoming presidential race.

Most recently, despite voting in the past in support of embryonic stem cell research, Senator McCain has indicated that he would be opposed to processes that involve the destruction of human life.

The National Right to Life Committee, which was first founded in 1973 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion in all 50 states, has affiliates in all 50 states with over 3,000 local chapters.