Abortion, the death penalty, and gay marriage remain hot-button topics in American politics. As sensitive moral issues, they divide the country along ideological lines. As difficult legal issues, they expose fundamental tensions between individual rights and governmental rights. The next president is likely to fill several Supreme Court vacancies, and these appointments could tip the high court's delicate balance.

Carol Moseley Braun
Braun supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortion. Stopping violence against women and supporting income equality in the workplace are two of her top priorities. Braun supports same-sex marriages and she opposes the death penalty.

George W. Bush
Bush opposes abortion rights and signed the recent ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He supports the death penalty and opposes same-sex marriage, though he has hinted at support for civil unions. He took a middle-ground approach to the question of federal funding for stem-cell research.

Wesley Clark
Clark supports abortion rights but is undecided on banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion. While he supports the death penalty in principle, he favors imposing a moratorium until all cases where technologies such as DNA analysis can determine guilt or innocence are reviewed. Clark supports extending civil unions with full benefits to gay partners but not same-sex marriage.

Howard Dean
Dean supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He feels the death penalty is often discriminatory and should be applied only in the most extreme crimes. Though he has opposed same-sex marriage, he signed a landmark civil-union bill as governor of Vermont, and says states should determine whether marriage is appropriate.

John Edwards
: Edwards supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortions. He has not spoken for or against same-sex marriage, saying the decision should be deferred to state, not federal, governments, but he supports civil-union benefits and child adoption by gay parents. He has also voted in favor of affirmative-action policies.

Dick Gephardt
Gephardt supports abortion rights, but also the ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He supports the death penalty. Though he does not favor same-sex marriages, he backs civil unions, adoption by gay parents, and openly gay men and women serving in the military.

John Kerry
Kerry supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He opposes the death penalty. He opposes same-sex marriage but condones civil unions that would grant equal rights.

Dennis Kucinich
Once an opponent of abortion rights, Kucinich became "pro-choice" in 2002, but he backs the ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He would decriminalize medical marijuana and treat addiction as a health issue. He strongly opposes the death penalty. He calls affirmative-action policies essential and backs same-sex marriages with all financial benefits.

Joe Lieberman
Lieberman supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He supports the death penalty. Though he opposes same-sex marriage, he supports gay adoption and domestic partnership laws.

Al Sharpton
Sharpton supports abortion rights, including for so-called "partial-birth" abortion. He opposes the death penalty. He would seek to end the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military and backs marriage rights for same-sex couples, including the right to adopt.