ELECTIONS / 38TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Deukmejian Backs Boland as Abortion Stand Is Protested

Gov. George Deukmejian endorsed Republican Assembly candidate Paula Boland at a Granada Hills fund-raiser Wednesday as a small group of demonstrators outside protested Boland’s opposition to abortion rights.

Deukmejian joined Republican Assembly Leader Ross Johnson and about 60 San Fernando Valley GOP activists at a Granada Hills restaurant for a $500-a-plate luncheon to raise money for Boland in her race against Democrat Irene Allert.

Boland and Allert are battling to succeed Republican Assemblywoman Marian La Follette in the GOP-dominated 38th Assembly District, which arcs across the Valley in a rough horseshoe from Hidden Hills to La Crescenta. La Follette is retiring at the end of this year after 10 years in the Assembly.

Those attending the luncheon were met at an intersection leading to the restaurant by about 15 sign-waving picketers protesting Boland’s “radically anti-choice stance.” The demonstrators were members of the National Organization for Women, National Women’s Political Caucus and other groups that favor abortion rights.

Deukmejian praised the conservative Boland, 50, for her longtime GOP activism, business background and community involvement and said she will “fit in beautifully” with Assembly Republicans and their philosophy of lower taxes and less government.

The governor also saluted Boland for her backing of Proposition 139, an initiative he is sponsoring on the Nov. 6 ballot that would allow private businesses to hire state prison inmates and require them to use a portion of their wages to pay incarceration costs, income taxes and restitution to crime victims.

In a brief speech, Boland attacked Proposition 128, the so-called Big Green initiative that would phase out the use of cancer-causing pesticides and ozone-depleting chemicals in California. She warned that it will drive up food costs and hurt aerospace and other local businesses by eliminating chemicals such as cleaning solvents.

A spokeswoman for the anti-Boland demonstrators said they picketed the luncheon because “we think it is very important that voters in the 38th Assembly District know Paula Boland is anti-choice.”

The race is being closely watched by groups on both sides of the abortion issue. Boland has received money from the National Right to Life Committee. Allert, an educational consultant from Kagel Canyon, is strongly backed by a number of women’s groups that advocate abortion rights.

Anne Zerrien-Lee, a spokeswoman for the Valley chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus, said the Assembly is now split “very close to 50-50” between legislators who support abortion rights and those who oppose them. Boland’s election could provide “the swing vote” for abortion foes, she said.

Zerrien-Lee said Assembly members’ positions on abortion are important because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision last year giving states more latitude to restrict reproductive rights. That ruling could spark renewed debate in the Legislature over whether to impose new restrictions in California, she said.

The Legislature also “is continually fighting” over the level of funding for family planning clinics and Medi-Cal abortions for poor women, Zerrien-Lee said.

Boland said abortion “is not an issue in this campaign” and characterized the demonstrators as “one-issue people” and fanatics.

“I’m not going to let them steal my lunch. It’s a dumb story. I ignored it coming in, I’m ignoring it now. . . . I’ve given all the time I’m going to give to those airheads down there. This is my governor’s lunch,” she said.

Boland said voters in the district are more concerned with issues such as crime, education and health care.

She contended that the demonstration was organized by Allert, but Allert said she had nothing to do with it.

Among the Boland supporters at the fund-raiser were Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) and Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson. The event was expected to net more than $30,000 for Boland’s campaign, a spokesman said.