TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/071789/07178900.022

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 5.9 KB | 118 lines

                                                                                NATION, Page 64

Five Political Hot Spots


In some states the abortion battle is already near boiling point


    Abortion is expected to become a fighting issue in almost
every state. But in a handful, it is coming to a head right now:

    NEW JERSEY: First Target

    Only hours after the Supreme Court's decision inviting
states to enact restrictions on abortion, Democratic Congressman
James Florio, who is running for Governor, announced he would
veto any such legislation if he is elected. His Republican
opponent, Congressman Jim Courter, sought the support of the
state's Right to Life organization in a primary battle against
seven adversaries. But last week Courter began to hedge,
asserting that while he would support restrictions on abortion,
he would not lobby the legislature for them. Courter, mindful
that New Jersey is one of only twelve states that permit
Medicaid funding of almost any abortion, hopes to keep the race
focused on other subjects. Says he: "My priorities are auto
insurance and environmental issues and crime." But the issue he
is trying to duck may bite him anyway. The National Abortion
Rights Action League, scenting a favorable political test, vows
to pump as much as $500,000 into campaign ads to keep the
spotlight squarely on abortion. Says N.A.R.A.L. executive
director Kate Michelman: "The New Jersey gubernatorial race is
the first example of what we are going to do around the
country."

    MICHIGAN: On to the Ballot Box

    Bills to deny Medicaid funding for abortions were vetoed 18
times in 15 years by a succession of Governors before pro-life
forces got such a measure adopted by referendum last year.
Undaunted, Democratic Governor James Blanchard vows to veto any
further restrictions, including those contained in a package of
bills that antiabortionists plan to introduce in the state
legislature when it reconvenes in September. Early betting is
that the bills will pass, but not by margins wide enough to
override vetoes. So the battle eventually will be decided at the
ballot box. Pro-lifers are already talking about starting a
petition drive to force another referendum on any vetoed
restrictions. The issue has split both parties: the staunchly
liberal United Auto Workers has taken no position because of
bitter dissension within its ranks, while pro-choice sentiment
is strong in affluent, suburban and heavily Republican Oakland
County, just north of Detroit.

    FLORIDA: "It's Going to Be Bloody"

    Republican Bob Martinez is the first Governor to announce
a special session of the state legislature to deal with
abortion; he says he will call it sometime before mid-October.
One legislator has already filed a bill mirroring the Missouri
law upheld by the Supreme Court; pro-lifers plan to introduce
further measures, including one allowing fathers to intervene
in abortion decisions. But it is far from certain that any
restrictions will be enacted. A poll in May found that 59% of
Florida voters and 51% of state legislators consider abortion
a private matter. Pro-choice Democrats will try to bottle up
restrictive bills in committees, and if they fail, their allies
will argue in court that a 1980 amendment to the state
constitution spelling out a right of privacy applies to
abortion. Whatever happens, both sides agree that the 1990
gubernatorial and legislative elections are likely to turn into
a single-issue referendum on abortion. Says Janis Compton-Carr,
director of the Florida Abortion Rights Action League: "It's
going to be bloody."

    VIRGINIA: Votes Yes, Money No

    Alain Briancon cannot find the time to paint the inside of
his house in Fairfax County because he has to keep answering
phone calls from volunteers who want to work with his wife Maria
in the Virginia Organization to Keep Abortion Legal. But
pro-choice sentiment is frustrated as far as Virginia's
gubernatorial race is concerned. The Republican candidate,
former state attorney general Marshall Coleman, is a strict
antiabortionist who says that if he wins, he will appoint only
pro-lifers to health and children's services positions. His
Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor Douglas Wilder, is
seeking to become the first black elected to govern a state, and
will not risk alienating moderate voters. So he has been
waffling on abortion, proposing that parental consent be
required for abortions on girls 18 and under and refusing to
say whether he would veto any other restrictions. His indecision
will not cost him pro-choice votes -- "There is no alternative,"
says Maria Briancon -- but it may lose him financial support.
Abortion-rights groups are planning to bypass the Virginia race
and pour their money into New Jersey. To the extent that they
make a major effort in Virginia, it will be on behalf of
Democrat Don Beyer, a pro-choice candidate who is running
against Republican Edwina Dalton, an antiabortionist, for
Lieutenant Governor.

    ILLINOIS: Role-Reversal Time

    Republican Governor James Thompson has vetoed antiabortion
legislation. Attorney General Neil Hartigan, the most likely
Democratic candidate to try for Thompson's job next year, has
announced his personal opposition to abortion and, as the
state's top lawyer, is obligated to uphold some restrictions the
state did enact. So which one is angling for the pro-choice
vote? Guess again. Thompson's vetoes were cast on the ground
that the legislation involved was unconstitutional under Roe v.
Wade. But after the Supreme Court's Webster decision last week
suggested that those restrictions might be constitutional after
all, the Governor called for more time to study the ruling.
Hartigan went the other way. Pressured by abortion-rights
activists who insisted they would never "endorse anyone who is
not unequivocally for choice and willing to say so," Hartigan
uttered the magic words: "I support the woman's freedom of
choice."