Roberti Gains Support of Key Women

State Senate leader David A. Roberti, seeking to defuse his anti-abortion image as he battles an abortion rights advocate in a June 2 runoff, collected endorsements Tuesday from a battery of women political leaders who praised his support for a broad range of programs benefiting women and children.

Roberti picked up the endorsements amid an increasingly vitriolic race with Republican Carol Rowen, a Tarzana abortion rights activist. The two are competing in a special election to replace Alan Robbins in the San Fernando Valley’s 20th Senate District.

Roberti, a Roman Catholic who opposes legalized abortion for personal reasons, has long been a target of abortion rights groups. Rowen has attacked him repeatedly on the issue, at one point noting a 1986 speech he made comparing Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan.

In an interview Tuesday, Rowen, who has made abortion rights a cornerstone of her campaign, angrily denounced the women endorsing Roberti, saying they were betraying other women on an issue of critical importance to their gender.

“Everyone has a price. If those women are willing to ignore the right to choose and would sell that--something that every one of them feels so strongly about--then I find nothing they say credible,” she said.

Rowen’s comment came after Roberti held a press conference at which more than a dozen prominent women--including state Treasurer Kathleen Brown, Secretary of State March Fong Eu and L.A. school board member Roberta Weintraub--endorsed him, saying his strong support for legislation favoring women and children more than offsets his abortion stance.

“Everyone here is pro-choice,” said State Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), nodding at other women leaders. “But David’s record on other issues is such that they overwhelm this whole pro-life thing.”

Other women speakers noted Roberti’s sponsorship of legislation establishing after-school programs for “latchkey” children and requiring doctors to advise breast cancer patients of alternatives to radical mastectomy.

His women supporters said that although Roberti has been a powerful foe of abortion-related legislation in the past, he has largely dropped his opposition in recent years.

“Although he is not pro-choice, he has in the past few years either taken a walk on the issue, or has supported us or has appointed pro-choice people to committee posts,” said Marilyn Kizziah, a representative of Women For, which lobbies for liberal causes including women’s rights.