OSV STORY FOR JUNE 30

NEWS

Pro-life Democrats try to pitch their own 'big tent'

Despite the coverage of Republican infighting, conflicts over abortion run deeper in the Democratic Party

By William Bole

As Republicans continue their public brawling over abortion, pro-life Democratic lawmakers are quietly waging a struggle to soften their own party's abortion plank.

Their goal: to garner what one congressman called a "conscientious objector clause" amounting to an acknowledgment of division among Democrats on the issue.

The challenge comes four years after the party excluded pro-life voices from its national convention in New York, including that of former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey.

The slight against Casey, who was denied a chance to speak at the 1992 convention, was cited by Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole in his June 6 speech calling for a "declaration of tolerance" on abortion in his party's platform.

Dole was pushing what has been called the "big tent," a party with room for defenders of abortion rights. The metaphor is embraced by these advocates, but viewed as ominous by others who fear a dilution of the Republican pro-life stand.

With less rancor, some Democrats are now calling for their own version of the big tent.

In this case, though, it is pro-lifers who are demanding tolerance of differing opinions on abortion.

"We feel shut out of the process," said Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, a leader of pro-life Democrats in the House of Representatives.

By most estimates, roughly 40 or more House Democrats consistently vote pro-life.

"It's frustrating. I feel that the people who wrote the platform don't speak for me and don't speak for a lot of people in the country who are Democrats and pro-life," Hall told Our Sunday Visitor.

Hall was among 10 pro-life legislators who met June 12 with Democratic National Committee Chairman Donald Fowler, the latest in a series of low-profile discussions.

At least for now, the Democrats are trying to keep their abortion disagreements in the family, and putting a benign face on what polling research indicates may be a deep fissure in the party.

"Chairman Fowler felt that the meeting was positive and productive, and he looks forward to working with these members [of Congress] who are supporters of the president," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Amy Weiss-Tobe.

Pro-life lawmakers echoed the party line after the meeting with Fowler.

"There was a great, free exchange of ideas. And it was encouraging, not discouraging," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. "Nobody is saying, 'You guys are asking too much.' They [party leaders] have been pretty receptive."

Stupak acknowledged that the pro-life contingent has no chance of removing the abortion plank. "But I think we can get a paragraph recognizing the fact that there are right-to-life Democrats who base their position on conscience, on moral and religious convictions, and who disagree with that part of the platform. I think it's a realistic expectation," said Stupak, a Catholic. "I guess you could call it a conscientious-objector clause."

While not everyone agrees with Stupak's reading of the current political landscape in the Democratic Party, the lawmakers are nonetheless drawing cheers from pro-lifers in the gallery.

"I think it's wonderful," said Carol Long, political-action director of the National Right To Life Committee. "If we are going to protect the lives of unborn children, we need the help of both the Democratic and Republican parties. It certainly would be a start to get the leaders of the Democratic Party to recognize that there are pro-life Democrats."

But Long said she doubts the leadership would grant even that recognition during this election year.

Nonetheless, she believes such wording in the platform would help Democrats lessen the damage caused by President Clinton's veto of the ban on partial-birth abortions two months ago.

"That veto alienated a lot of Democrats. It certainly alienated a lot of Catholics and others across the country. Those votes are going to be needed in the fall," she said.

Long is among those who argue that despite the front-page coverage of Republican infighting, conflicts over abortion actually run deeper in the Democratic Party.

Lending some credence to their claim is a survey conducted last December by The Wirthlin Group, a polling firm tied to Republican causes.

The poll found 50 percent of self-identified Democrats holding pro-life convictions: nine percent said abortion should be prohibited in all circumstances; 12 percent would allow the single exception of saving the life of the mother; and 29 percent favored two exceptions -- saving the mother's life and cases of rape and incest.

Forty-five percent of Democrats in the survey of 1,007 people favored "pro-choice" positions, indicating that members of the party are split down the middle on the issue.

By comparison, Republicans in the survey seemed unified, with 62 percent agreeing to pro-life statements and only 36 percent in the "choice" camp.

The margin of error in the poll was plus or minus five percentage points.

Four years ago, pro-life Democratic sentiment stayed mainly below the surface of presidential politics.

But this year may be different, said Casey, who now heads the Campaign for the American Family, a Washington advocacy group.

Judging from experience, his own in particular, Casey does not think the convention handlers would go for a change in the party's platform.

But he believes, in any event, that the new pro-life Democratic activism may signal an insurgency of so-called Reagan Democrats. These are swing voters, blue-collar for the most part, many of them in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan -- must-win states for President Clinton in November.

"The closer this race gets, the more pressure there's going to be on the Democrats to do something on abortion -- to send a message to pro-life Democrats that they'll move away from this extreme, radical, far-left position. And I hope it would begin with a reconsideration of this veto of the ban on partial-birth abortions," Casey told Our Sunday Visitor.

For their part, the pro-life lawmakers say it is a matter of conscience.

"This isn't a political issue with us. It's a question of religious, moral and ethical beliefs," said Stupak. "If we're going to be the party of the big tent, we're going to have to give people an opportunity to exercise those beliefs and values."

Bole is a senior correspondent for Our Sunday Visitor

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