CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR : Rival Calls Bergeson ‘Flip-Flopper’ on Abortion

In a race where the candidates have billed themselves as polar opposites on the issue of abortion, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy on Monday accused Sen. Marian Bergeson, his rival, of being inconsistent in claiming she is a lifelong abortion rights opponent.

As evidence, Democrat McCarthy produced a questionnaire that the Newport Beach Republican filled out in 1982 for Orange County Planned Parenthood that asked about her support for abortion rights.

Rather than check the “yes” or “no” box on the questionnaire, Bergeson wrote, in part: “Certainly government is not in a position of being able to influence a woman with regard to her reproductive destiny, nor should it be. That is a private matter for the woman, hopefully working with her physician and her husband.”

Bergeson’s campaign said the statement did not refer to abortion but rather to other options facing pregnant women, such as adoption or keeping the child.

McCarthy charged that the statement reveals Bergeson to be a flip-flopper, a charge she has relentlessly thrown at him during the campaign.

“The point is that she has made consistency on positions one of the centerpieces of her campaign,” said Roy Behr, McCarthy’s campaign manager. “This very clearly demonstrates that on an issue that she says is fundamental to her, she has not been consistent.”

Ron Smith, campaign manager for Bergeson, insisted that she has always opposed abortion and would like to see it outlawed.

“I think they’re trying to find something to counter the fact that Leo McCarthy has flip-flopped on so many issues,” Smith said. “He’s just trying to muddy the water because in three paragraphs of a questionnaire eight years ago it’s not as clear as it should have been.”

Abortion has been a major issue for Bergeson since she launched her campaign for lieutenant governor last year. In the general election, she has been forced to contend with criticism from abortion rights supporter McCarthy while downplaying her differences with Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson, her running mate, who supports abortion rights.

Instead of running from the issue, Bergeson has made it a demonstration of her rigid dedication to values and her refusal to change positions for political gain. At the same time, she accuses her opponent of ducking the issue.

Bergeson blasted McCarthy in August as a flip-flopper on abortion, citing several votes while he was an assemblyman in the 1970s, opposing public funding for abortion. McCarthy said he struggled with contradictions that face a practicing Catholic and a public policy maker before he decided to support abortion rights in the early 1980s.

Margie Fites Seigle, Orange County Planned Parenthood executive director, confirmed the authenticity of the questionnaire McCarthy produced Monday. She said it was given to all Orange County candidates for state office in 1982.