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Deukmejian Hits Politics of Abortion

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TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU CHIEF

Gov. George Deukmejian called on fellow politicians Saturday to stop “exploiting” the abortion issue and trying to “tailor” their views to fit the voters.

The veteran officeholder, who is not running for reelection next year, criticized Democratic candidates who have “castigated” the opposing views of Republican rivals. And he denounced fellow Republicans who have reversed long-held views and adopted “supposedly more fashionable” positions.

“Abortion is a moral issue,” Deukmejian declared in his weekly radio address. “It should not be exploited for political gain. Nor should one’s views on the subject be changed or tailored to suit what the conventional wisdom says is the prevailing popular will.”

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Deukmejian’s own views on abortion are complex, as are those of most Americans, according to the polls.

The governor is not “pro-choice,” but neither is he strictly “anti-abortion.” As he restated in his radio address, Deukmejian opposes “abortion on demand,” but supports it in cases of “rape or incest or where there is a substantial risk to the mother’s physical or mental health.”

Deukmejian’s admonishment to politicians came at a time when his own party has been taking a drubbing on abortion, nationally and in California.

In New Jersey and Virginia last month, for example, pro-choice Democrats defeated anti-abortion Republicans in gubernatorial races. In San Diego on Dec. 5, a pro-choice Democratic assemblywoman upset an anti-abortion Republican assemblywoman in a state Senate race after a Catholic bishop inadvertently whipped up backlash support for the Democrat by barring her from receiving Communion.

In each gubernatorial contest, the GOP candidate backpedaled on the abortion issue and softened his position--a tactic that Deukmejian said not only doesn’t work, it repels voters.

“I have found that voters will respect a candidate or public official who states his or her views sincerely and consistently, even if they happen to disagree on a particular controversial issue,” the governor said. “Voters will not respect--and are likely not to support--those who expediently change their position on such a deep moral question as abortion.

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“The best course is to state your views with clarity and consistency, refrain from exploiting the views of opponents and trust the people to respect the fact that you have taken a stand on a tough issue and that you aren’t wishy-washy.”

Led by former President Ronald Reagan, the GOP in recent years became widely viewed as the “anti-abortion” party. In fact, its 1988 national platform contained a “right-to-life” plank advocating a ban on abortions.

But many Republican officeholders now are trying to withdraw the party from that hardrock position and broaden its image. Watching polls and election results, they see the political pendulum swinging toward “pro-choice”--as largely advocated by Democrats--after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in July that opened the way for states to restrict abortions.

“We should just take the abortion issue out of the platform. I feel the Republican Party needs to be opened up and become very broadly-based,” Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon), the anti-abortion candidate who lost narrowly in the San Diego election, said Saturday.

Deukmejian did not say exactly to whom he was referring when he lamented that “in recent weeks, a number of political observers and analysts have attempted to turn this sensitive moral question into a simple political calculation. Some Democratic candidates . . . have been advised to promote their views on abortion and castigate the views of their opponents. Some Republicans are being advised to simply discard their strongly-held positions on abortion in order to conform to supposedly more fashionable views.”

Although the governor was not specific, there seem to be ample illustrations in California of what he was talking about.

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Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), the pro-choice winner in San Diego, acknowledged on Saturday that she would not have entered the Senate race in a predominantly-Republican district had she not first taken a poll which showed that she could capitalize on, among other things, Bentley’s anti-abortion views. “Pro-choice was the issue that most affected people’s vote,” said Killea, who personally opposes abortion. So she placed a television ad calling the voters’ attention to her position compared to Bentley’s.

In a budding contest for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor between two state senators who are little known outside of their Orange County districts, one contender “after a lot of soul-searching” reversed his position in September and became “pro-choice.” Sen. John Seymour of Anaheim defended his controversial switch on Saturday, saying the Supreme Court ruling had “changed the environment.”

“A person in public office can’t be an ostrich with his head in the sand,” asserted Seymour, who said he remains personally opposed to abortion. “The important thing that needs to be said is that this is not a Republican-Democrat issue. It is a personal issue.”

Seymour’s opponent, Sen. Marion Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), said she will stick to her anti-abortion position, although it is hurting her politically. “I’ve had many people come up to me and indicate they can’t support anyone who is not pro-choice,” she said.

“Californians have a lot of problems. We shouldn’t be looking at any single issue to try to make a determination on a candidate.”

But what should be and what is are often different in politics. And it is much easier for the retiring governor to assert that abortion should not be exploited for political gain than it is for active candidates to put this thesis into practice.

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When running for reelection himself in 1986, for example, Deukmejian aggressively exploited the differences between himself and his Democratic opponent on another moral issue--capital punishment. Deukmejian, a strong supporter of the death penalty, frequently accused Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley of “taking a walk” on the issue throughout his career.

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