Abortion returning to stage as key issue in election
Pro-life, pro-choice activists gear up for high-stakes vote


Tuesday, October 17, 2000
BY MARK SILVA
msilva@herald.com
Miami Herald

Struggling to find a winning edge in a seesaw presidential battle in Florida and other critical states, supporters of both Al Gore and George W. Bush are reviving a battle from contentious campaigns past: abortion.

The political arm of Planned Parenthood is pummeling Republican nominee Bush with TV ads in South Florida and six other contested regions of the country warning that Bush threatens a woman's freedom of choice.

Behind the scenes, activists rooted in the Christian Coalition are working telephones and e-mail networks to ensure that ``pro-life,'' pro-Bush voters turn out on Election Day.

The dormant, decades-old war over abortion has entered presidential politicking anew, as activists on both sides try to paint Bush as the candidate who will fight abortion and Vice President Gore as a defender of abortion rights.

Bush has struggled to attract female voters -- opinion polls show most women prefer Gore -- and the focus on abortion rights could make it even tougher for Bush to win them over.

Bush is launching his own ``W Stands for Women'' campaign, featuring his well-regarded mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, in battleground states this week.

COSTLY STANCE

The abortion question cost Bush the vote of Luise Velo, a Cuban-American mother of two who lives in Hollywood and considers herself a good Republican.

``This pro-choice issue is really upsetting, so I am changing my mind,'' said Velo, who plans to vote for Gore. ``I fear the views of [Bush] and the people he is going to appoint. . . . I have talked to many, many women . . . feeling that way.''

There may be just as many voters on the other side of the issue, Bush supporters say.

``You don't have to go very far on this particular issue to find a distinct difference'' between the candidates, says John Dowless, once director of the Christian Coalition in Florida, now deployed by the national Republican Party's ``Victory 2000'' committee to get conservatives out to vote.

``That is one of the things I am trying to bring to the attention of a lot of Catholics and evangelical voters,'' Dowless says. ``What we have to do is make sure we get more voters out than the other side.''

TIGHT RACE

Old allegiances on abortion, political experts agree, could bring out enough voters to tilt a tight race. The University of Virginia's Larry Sabato says abortion can awaken passions and bolster turnout on both sides.

For pro-choice voters, Sabato says: ``It reminds them of why, if they don't think Gore is any great shakes, they have to be worried about the Supreme Court.'' For others: ``They are depending on the Christian Coalition and other pro-life groups to get voter turnout.''

This is the first time Planned Parenthood, an 84-year-old organization with nearly 900 offices, has played its hand in a presidential campaign.

Its 10-year-old political fund is dedicating $7 million to advertising in seven fiercely contested states -- Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

It is spending another $3 million on mailings to 2.2 million Americans and phone calls to bolster the ads.

``The stakes for women are so high in this election,'' says Gloria Feldt, national president of Planned Parenthood. ``One changed vote on the Supreme Court could be the end of reproductive rights as we have known them for a generation.''

A series of three TV ads started airing Oct. 3 and will run through this weekend. These and a new ad also will air closer to Election Day:

``Compassion,'' a female narrator explaining: ``Every year, Planned Parenthood gives millions of women and families the facts they need to make responsible choices. That's why you need the facts about George W. Bush.''

``Women,'' several identified as Republicans: ``Bush is willing to appoint Supreme Court justices who oppose a woman's right to choose. . . . That's why I have a problem with George W. Bush.''

``Doctor,'' featuring a female physician: ``My patients trust me to give them all the facts, and the fact is George W. Bush does not trust women to make their own choices.''

Bush's Florida campaign says it hasn't responded to the ads.

'NOT EFFECTIVE'

``We don't think those ads will be effective,'' says spokesman Leo DiBenigno. ``I think women know what the governor's position is. They have heard him loud and clear.''

In a campaign focused on tax cuts, education and prescription drugs for the elderly, the fullest airing of abortion differences between Bush and Gore came during their first televised debate two weeks ago.

Bush was asked if, as president, he would overrule the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion-inducing pill, RU 486.

No, said Bush, he doesn't think a president can.

``What the next president ought to do is to promote a culture of life,'' he said. ``A noble goal for this country is that every child born and unborn ought to be protected in the law and welcomed into life.''

Bush maintains he will conduct no ``litmus test'' on Supreme Court appointees.

But Gore, calling himself pro-choice, suggests Bush would open the court to conservatives such as Clarence Thomas.

``I would appoint people who have a philosophy that I think would make it quite likely that they would uphold Roe vs. Wade,'' Gore said.

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