Abortion Issue Divides Roberti and Old Allies

Senate Leader David A. Roberti insists he has been good for California women. But abortion rights activists claim he hasn’t been good enough.

The Los Angeles Democrat is a strong supporter of affirmative action, child-care programs, and parental leave for women to care for their children. By most measures, he is one of the more liberal members of the Legislature.

But Roberti, a devout Roman Catholic, opposes abortion.

And now that the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door for state legislatures to regulate abortion, being “right” on most women’s issues is no longer sufficient to satisfy the leaders of the pro-choice movement.

Top feminists throughout California say they want Roberti out of his powerful leadership post and, if possible, out of the Senate.

“Certainly in the position of president pro tem of the Senate, we need to have a person who is pro-choice, someone who is working for us and not against us,” said Linda Joplin, statewide coordinator of the National Organization for Women. “The bottom line is that David Roberti does not represent his constituency on this issue.”

Roberti does not face reelection until 1992, but already Shireen Miles, a veteran feminist based in Los Angeles, warns that a challenge to him is likely if pro-choice leaders believe they can field a credible candidate and secure the funds to make the race competitive.

“A lot of us feel it is important to turn up the heat on him,” Miles said.

Roberti bristles at the complaints. He says he is “appalled” by the “one-issue attack” on him. He suggests that people who view abortion as the paramount issue are selfishly telling him to place their interests above the needs of his other constituents.

“They are, in effect, telling seniors that they should forget about rent control,” he said in an interview, his voice rising. “They are telling ill people that they should forget about medical (care). They are telling children they should forget about child care. They are telling people who are concerned about safety that they should forget about fighting the (National Rifle Assn.).

Other Issues Cited

“They are saying their life styles and their issue is more important than someone else’s. Is it more important than civil rights for minority people? Is it more important than child care, education, economic rights for the elderly?”

Roberti also said pro-choice advocates don’t recognize how difficult the issue is for him because they have never had to answer the “tough questions.”

“What do you do about a late-term abortion?” he asked. “Do you favor funding late-term abortions with taxpayers’ money? What do you do with the unborn fetus? Do you experiment on it?.”

The split over abortion is painful for Roberti and many feminist leaders because they have been allies in so many fights for years, said Donne Brownsey, a senior Roberti staff member who is his liaison to the pro-choice movement.

“The women’s organizations know they can come to Roberti when they are worried,” Brownsey said. “They know that he is good on every single women’s issue. Why alienate somebody who has been their champion, who is powerful, who is the pro tem? It is a very delicate relationship on this issue.”

Consistent Position

Roberti has opposed abortion since Los Angeles voters first sent him to the Legislature 23 years ago. But long before Roberti was elected Senate president pro tem by his colleagues in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court made Roberti’s stance nearly moot by severely restricting the ability of states to regulate abortion.

All that changed July 3, when the high court ruled that states could regulate abortion at any time during pregnancy, even before the point at which the fetus could survive outside the womb. The decision is expected to propel abortion into a major campaign issue, since both houses of the Legislature are now controlled by slim pro-choice majorities that can be expected to block any attempt to place stricter limits on abortion in California.

Despite those majorities, anti-abortion activists are expected to pursue their agenda and look to Roberti to help shape it.

“David Roberti is our best friend in the Senate,” said the Rev. Louis Sheldon, an Anaheim pastor who frequently lobbies the Legislature as head of the Traditional Values Coalition.

Sheldon, who is among those who will be drafting the anti-abortion strategy in California, said abortion opponents might ask Roberti to carry legislation restricting the procedure. They certainly will expect him to use his vote in the important Senate Rules Committee to help the anti-abortion cause, and to help sway any members who might still be undecided on the issue.

Only One Vote

But Roberti contends that he represents only one vote on the issue--his own. He said he uses the power of his arguments, but not his leadership position, to persuade his colleagues to vote as he does.

“I haven’t used a heavy hand on too much of anything,” Roberti said. “I reserve for myself the right to my own vote and try to persuade others, just as they have the right to their own vote, and try to persuade me.”

Sen. Barry Keene of Benicia, who as majority leader is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said he and Roberti have “agreed to disagree” on the issue. Keene is strongly in favor of a woman’s right to choose whether to end a pregnancy.

“Sen. Roberti has accepted the fact that I have a position that differs from his and I will pursue it in any fair way I can,” Keene said. “I have accepted the fact that he will do the same. I believe strongly that this should be an issue of individual conscience.”

But pro-choice activists outside the Legislature view Keene’s position as naive. They argue that Roberti cannot help but influence the outcome on abortion given his central role in shaping the agenda and helping to elect and reelect members of the Senate.

Roberti, for example, helped bankroll the 1987 special election campaign of Democrat Cecil Green of Norwalk and marshaled scores of Senate staff members to take time off from their state jobs to campaign for Green, who won and has since been reelected. Green is opposed to abortion.

Aided Boatwright

In 1988, Roberti rushed to aid Sen. Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord), who was challenged by a pro-choice woman. Boatwright considers himself pro-choice but has voted at times to restrict access to abortion and is not trusted by abortion rights activists, according to Miles.

And in 1990, Roberti could anoint a successor to Sen. Joseph P. Montoya (D-Whittier), a staunchly anti-abortion lawmaker who faces a trial on federal charges of extortion and racketeering. Pro-choice forces say this contest, whether or not Montoya runs for reelection, will be one of their top priorities.

Even if Roberti does not shape the legislative debate or control selection of the party’s candidates, he sets an example as Senate leader for other lawmakers that pro-choice groups believe is harmful.

“Being in the prestigious position he is in and it being well known that he is adamantly anti-choice, he sends a really conflicting message about what it means to be a Democrat in California today,” said Miles, a former California NOW coordinator.

Roberti, however, rejects the thesis that, to be a good Democrat, he must subscribe to “liberalism as dogma.”

“Why there is some unhappiness with me from liberal quarters is that I don’t accept the whole liberal bible without having my own opinions,” he said.

Topic of Discussion

Roberti’s political future was a major topic of discussion in Los Angeles last week when pro-choice activists gathered to participate in a nationwide satellite teleconference on abortion, according to civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred. NOW leaders announced at that meeting that members will be asked to pledge never again to work for or contribute to a politician who does not support abortion rights.

Allred, who considered challenging Roberti in 1988 but never entered the race, said pro-choice leaders agree that Roberti should be ousted but have not decided if it makes sense to devote the money and energy it would take to defeat him. Such an effort could siphon resources from other more winnable races, she said.

Roberti was elected to represent the Hollywood-area district in 1971 after three terms in the Assembly and has been reelected easily five times. As Senate leader, he could raise huge sums of money to defend himself against a challenge, and he could rely on long-time supporters in the labor union movement to campaign door-to-door on his behalf.

And Roberti might even expect help from fundamentalist Christians, who would be willing to overlook his generally liberal record because of his opposition to abortion, Rev. Sheldon said.

“David isn’t going to support you on a lot of the issues,” Sheldon said. “But he is going to support you on that issue. So you want David Roberti in that seat because he is a pro-life vote.”