GOP Panel Sidesteps Debate on Party’s Stand on Abortion

The Republican Party’s internal debate over abortion boiled into the open Thursday, with a party committee refusing to consider a resolution affirming the GOP’s anti-abortion stance.

The action came on the opening day of the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, a session dominated by public and private discussions about whether the party should moderate its official stand on abortion as the 1990 elections approach.

The session also included a complaint from the leader of a black GOP group, who said that despite minority outreach commitments from party chief Lee Atwater some state chapters “overlook” blacks.

Fred Brown, head of the National Black Republican Committee, also said that while he has been unable to organize a presidential dinner as an organization fund-raiser, Jesse Jackson and other prominent black Democrats “constantly meet with the President.”

But abortion overshadowed other topics as the committee convened in a hotel blocks from the White House.

One committee member, Idaho state GOP Chairman Randy Ayre, sought to offer a resolution endorsing the party’s 1988 platform recognition of the “sanctity of life.”

Ayre was told that his request would not be considered because he had not submitted a formal resolution in advance of the gathering and that the issue might be discussed at the next committee meeting in June.

Ayre said after the session that he personally opposes abortion and believes the party should too, but that the GOP should not use a candidate’s position on abortion as a litmus test for party support.

Atwater and other prominent Republicans--including President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle--have sought in recent months to portray the GOP as an umbrella organization that welcomes candidates with varying views on abortion. And, mindful of the role abortion played in several major elections won by Democrats last year, Atwater has been urging Republican candidates to state their position on the issue early and firmly in an attempt to diminish abortion’s campaign role.