Illinois Takes Center Stage in Abortion Battle

When Todd Sieben was elected a legislator from bedrock conservative southern Illinois three years ago, taking a stand on abortion seemed relatively simple.

“I felt I was a pro-life person,” he said. “It just seemed like that was where the Republicans were, and I was comfortable there.”

Sieben also knew the courts were always there to prevent the politicians from going too far.

With the U.S. Supreme Court apparently poised to chip away at abortion rights, all that appears to be changing, and Sieben has begun to question his own voting record.

Although he still abhors abortion, Sieben said: “I’m not so sure I could be comfortable with a total prohibition, or making all abortions a criminal act.”

So what side does that put Sieben on? “Pro-compromise,” he said.

Illinois is shaping up as a major battleground state, and one that could be a key indicator of how the upcoming abortion struggle will unfold around the nation. Both sides will be watching it closely as a crucial match between newly energized pro-choice forces and their well-entrenched and organized opponents.

For all the passion and rhetoric it has provoked, the abortion debate in Illinois over the past 16 years had little practical consequence.

It amounted to legislative Ping-Pong, played out over and over: The General Assembly would send an anti-abortion bill to the governor; he would swat it back to them with a veto; the lawmakers would return with an override; the courts would finally quash it.

Lawmakers on the Spot

Now, the game is over. By upholding a Missouri law that put new restrictions on abortion, the Supreme Court has signaled that it is willing to hand states more power to regulate the termination of a pregnancy. That puts elected officials here and elsewhere on the spot for the first time since 1973, when the landmark Roe vs. Wade case established abortion as a right.

Although some legislators welcome the opportunity to set policy in this divisive and emotional arena, “the majority wished the Supreme Court would have left (abortion law) where it was at,” said Rep. Myron J. Kulas, a Chicago Democrat who initially voted with abortion opponents, but who now describes himself as “leaning toward pro-choice.”

“Some of them are going to have to do a little more soul searching,” added Sen. Beverly Fawell, a Chicago-area Republican who refuses to join either side. “Some of them who are pro-life have some private misgivings about some of this. They have been able to vote strictly pro-life because they knew it was going to be overturned.”

Facing a Legislature that has been overwhelmingly against them, the abortion rights advocates are starting from behind.

‘Going to See Action’

“Obviously, in Illinois, we have some work to do,” said Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League. “My sense is that Illinois will be a state where we’re going to see action. We have to expect that the anti-choice forces are going to go where they have the greatest strength . . . to get their quickest victories.”

Anti-abortion forces here say they have always been at the forefront of the movement nationally, and do not plan to let up now that they can smell victory.

“We’re going to do what we’ve been doing for the past 16 years,” said Felicia Goeken, Illinois director of National Right to Life.

Legislative ‘Prodding’

“Illinois has traditionally participated in the prodding process,” said state Rep. Penny Pullen, a Republican who has led the abortion opponents in the Legislature. “We’ve over the years passed legislation that we believe to be both reasonable and constitutional, that gives the court the opportunity to change its mind or more clearly define what it means.”

That “prodding” has included passing a law that would require abortion clinics to outfit their facilities as though they were hospitals.

Pro-choice advocates contend it is a thinly disguised move to put most clinics out of business and have challenged the law in a case, Turnock vs. Ragsdale, that will be heard by the Supreme Court this fall. A decision to uphold the law would be the most serious setback yet suffered by the abortion rights forces.

During the fall legislative session, Pullen expects an easy victory in her push to bring Illinois statutes in line with the relatively narrow Missouri restrictions already upheld by the court. “Next spring, we will go back to the prodding process,” she said.

Impact on Governor’s Race

Next year’s governor’s race could also become a referendum on abortion, now that Republican Gov. James R. Thompson has taken himself out of the running.

Thompson, who last Thursday announced his decision not to seek an unprecedented fifth term, had vetoed about a dozen anti-abortion bills during his 12 years in office.

However, Thompson has studiously avoided declaring his own position on the issue. He has always justified his actions with the claim that Roe vs. Wade made them unconstitutional, and the courts have generally backed him up.

Can’t Straddle Issue

His successor, however, is unlikely to be able to pull off such a straddle in the highly charged atmosphere that now surrounds the issue.

It appears certain that the entire field of Democratic gubernatorial candidates will favor abortion rights. Any doubt disappeared earlier this month, when Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan, seen as the strongest potential Democratic candidate, declared that he is pro-choice--a move that outraged abortion foes, who had long considered him part of their camp.

The likely GOP contenders for Thompson’s job are on both sides of the issue, which has raised Republican fears that abortion could come to dominate their primary. It could drive a wedge between two of the party’s most important constituencies--religious fundamentalists and younger Republicans who are conservative on fiscal matters but moderate or liberal on social issues.

“That would be a donnybrook that conceivably would cost the Republicans a victory in the general election,” said Thomas F. Roeser, the conservative Republican who is president of the City Club of Chicago.

Daley’s Views

The new reality surrounding abortion is also causing some turmoil among Democrats. Only days after Hartigan’s apparent switch to a pro-choice position, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley--who had maintained a staunchly anti-abortion voting record in the Legislature and personally opposes it--indicated that he might not support measures that would curb clinics in Chicago.

One proposal would, in effect, ban clinics throughout the city by preventing them from operating within 5,000 feet of a school. Daley said it could disrupt health care throughout the city.

“My personal position has been always against abortion,” Daley said. But he added: “It’s an individual decision people make, and I support the patient-doctor relationship.”

“There obviously has been and continues to be a change from his position when he was a state senator,” said Ralph Rivera, chairman of the Illinois Pro-Life Coalition Political Action Committee. “I do believe that it will hurt him.”

Despite the fact that the two national parties have taken strong stands on opposite sides of the issue, abortion views in Illinois do not break down along Democratic and Republican lines. Generally, pro-choice votes come from urban liberals and moderates around Chicago, while abortion foes draw most of their support from conservative downstate Illinois and from the large blocs of Catholics in Chicago.

“What we haven’t seen is the silent majority--and the silent majority of Catholics,” insisted Rep. Loleta A. Didrickson, a pro-choice Republican and Catholic from suburban Chicago.

Search for Middle Ground

Although activists on both sides are threatening to use their power to punish any representative who does not support them straight down the line, some legislators insist that they--and their constituents--cannot take such an unambiguous view. They believe public policy should be set somewhere in the vast center between a total ban and abortion on demand.

“I disagree with both sides, in some respects. I think both sides go to extremes,” Sen. Fawell said.

“By taking a middle-of-the-road position, I realize that what I am doing is probably stupid politically,” she conceded. “(But) I’ve been pregnant. I have four children; I have six grandchildren. I’ve been there--which is something most legislators can’t say.”

Researcher Tracy Shryer contributed to this story.