GOP hopefuls opting for softer abortion stance

By Mary Leonard, Globe Staff, March 10, 1999

WASHINGTON -- To the dismay of many GOP conservatives and to the relief of many moderates, the mark of a mainstream Republican presidential candidate in 2000 will be a distinctly soft and accommodating voice on the issue of abortion.

That is becoming clear this week as three of the White House hopefuls -- Texas Governor George W. Bush, former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander, and former labor secretary Elizabeth Dole -- take steps toward running and distance themselves from party activists who, for two decades, have made a commitment to ending legal abortions a litmus test of GOP presidential candidates.

"This is different," said Ann Stone, founder of Republicans for Choice, a group that raises money for GOP candidates who support abortion rights. "We have front-runner candidates, Bush and Dole, who are bridge builders and don't want to divide the party over the abortion issue."

The three all say they oppose abortion. But Alexander, who formally began his campaign yesterday in Nashville, said Monday he could accept a running mate who supports abortion rights. Bush, who presented his exploratory committee Sunday in Austin, Texas, said the GOP should "maintain its pro-life tenor," but said he had not picked his advisers on the basis of their views on abortion. "Our party is big enough for good people to be able to disagree on the issue," Bush said.

Dole, who opens her bid today in Iowa, is being advised to affirm her opposition to abortion while presenting herself as "a reasonable person who is not an extremist on the issue," said Linda DiVall, Dole's pollster.

"Our polling shows that many women who are both staunchly Republican and pro-life are also uncomfortable with male politicians dictating their point of view on abortion," DiVall said. "Mrs. Dole is clearly pro-life, but as a woman she would think through the issue, not impose her point of view, and uphold the law of the land."

The Republican presidential nominee will need to appeal beyond the party, particularly to women voters, to win the White House. The results of the last two presidential races, and defeats last fall of a dozen GOP House members and several high-profile senators who opposed abortion, are causing likely candidates Alexander, Bush, Dole, and Arizona Senator John McCain -- who also says he is antiabortion -- to play down the polarizing issue.

"I suppose a pollster would also have told Abraham Lincoln, 'It's fine to be antislavery, but don't talk about it if you want to carry the South,' " said Republican Gary Bauer, who has made opposition to abortion a centerpiece of his run for the White House. "The issue is human life, and when Republicans begin to play games with it, we send a signal that we are not a serious governing party."

There are still plenty of ardent, antiabortion activists at the GOP grass roots, and plenty of GOP White House aspirants, including Bauer, vying for their support in next year's presidential primaries. Among them are Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire, TV commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former diplomat Alan Keyes, and publisher Steve Forbes, who is more passionate about abortion now than he was as a candidate in 1996.

Bauer, who headed the conservative Family Research Council, said that as president, he would appoint only antiabortion judges, sign legislation banning late-term abortions, and send Congress a bill defining fetuses as persons protected under the 14th Amendment. He said he would fight to preserve the party platform that since 1980 has called for both a constitutional amendment protecting "the right to life for unborn children" and congressional efforts to restrict federal funds for abortions.

Colleen Parro, the Dallas-based director of the Republican National Coalition for Life, said she fears the party's thirst for victory in 2000 could threaten the antiabortion plank in the platform and is encouraging "squishy pro-lifers" such as Bush and Dole.

Both Bush and Dole would allow abortions for women who are victims of rape or incest, or whose lives are endangered by a pregnancy.

"There will be efforts to water down the platform language or remove it entirely," said Parro, whose antiabortion group was formed to counter Republicans for Choice. "Some Republicans also are going to push for a pro-choice running mate, which would really be dumb. If we walk, they don't win."

Given the contentiousness of the issue, the centrist candidates have adopted the position that the less said about abortion for now, the better. McCain refused to discuss the issue at a recent California GOP convention. Asked about abortion on the "Today" show Monday, Alexander said, "We have honest differences of opinion about it in the Republican Party. Let's move on to education."

Alexander opposes a constitutional amendment to end abortion, supports a ban on late-term procedures, and says states should be able to restrict people who can obtain abortions. But the issue is not on his agenda, said Stephen Schmidt, Alexander's spokesman. "This campaign is about fixing public education, reducing taxes, and strengthening the national defense," he said.

Try as they might, though, candidates might have trouble staying on course when punches come from the right and left.

"George W. Bush is a kinder, gentler, politically correct candidate who doesn't want to offend anyone," said Cathie Adams, who, as president of the Texas branch of the conservative Eagle Forum, has been disappointed with Bush for not limiting access to abortion in the state. "Americans want strong stands and strong positions, and we will make abortion a front-burner issue."

So will the liberal National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, the nation's largest abortion-rights advocacy group. Kate Michelman, the league's president, said her organization intends to expose the GOP centrists as "great pretenders" trying to woo voters with soft rhetoric on abortion that matches neither their personal views nor their policies as president.

"This attempt by some Republicans to appear moderate on abortion speaks dramatically to how important the issue of a woman's right to choose will be in 2000," Michelman said. "But . . . this is nothing more than a campaign strategy. Once they win office, who knows what will happen to this fragile and fundamental right?"