CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / U.S. SENATE : Allen Uses Abortion Footage in Senate Campaign TV Ad

In a highly unusual move that one abortion-rights advocate characterized as “vile and disgusting,” U.S. Senate candidate Bill Allen will begin airing a 30-second television spot today that graphically depicts an abortion in progress.

Allen, a conservative Republican who has been stuck near the bottom of the polls, says the advertisement is meant to “advance public understanding” of the abortion issue. It was hailed Thursday by a spokeswoman for Operation Rescue of California, a prominent anti-abortion group, as a “wonderful tool” for their cause.

Several television stations have expressed reservations about broadcasting the commercial--which includes an eight-second segment showing the abortion--but it is scheduled to air tonight on CNN in San Diego and Sunday morning on KNBC in Los Angeles.

Adlink, a company that supplies advertising to 31 cable systems serving 1.4 million homes in Southern California, has refused to accept the commercial, although a spokeswoman said the decision was not based on its content.

“We have set limits on our inventory in terms of political (ads),” said Lynn Bolton, Adlink’s local sales manager. “We just got big orders down the stretch for Clinton and Brown, and we have to accommodate them. We have just chosen not to run ads for (the Senate) race.”

In San Diego, however, a spokeswoman for Cox Cable said attorneys for that cable system determined the company was required under federal law to broadcast the advertisement.

“We don’t want to run it. It is a bad situation,” said spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz of Cox Cable, which sold Allen the CNN slot. “But we feel we have to. Our hands are tied.”

An official with the Federal Communications Commission, which sets rules for political advertisements, said federal law prohibits licensed broadcast stations--such as KNBC--from refusing or censoring material from legally qualified candidates for federal office. The official said, however, that the rules governing cable systems are less definitive.

“There is no law with respect to cable systems in this situation,” said Milton Gross, chief of the political programming division of the FCC in Washington. “There is no commission ruling on this. No one has ever brought the question to the commission.”

David Warnick, political director for the Allen campaign, said Allen has neither the time nor the money to challenge cable systems unwilling to broadcast the ad. Warnick said the campaign will simply take the ad to stations required to air it.

Warnick would not disclose how much money Allen will spend on air time, but with an underfinanced campaign it is unlikely the ad will appear more than a handful of times. Allen has raised about $150,000, according to recent campaign statements, most of which has already been spent.

Republican political consultant Alan Hoffenblum, who is not involved in the campaign, described the commercial as “shock journalism” that is intended to attract attention to Allen’s campaign more than anything else.

“It is a good way for him to get a bunch of publicity rather cheaply,” Hoffenblum said. “He obviously has been brainstorming for ways to get in the paper.”

Allen, however, said he has always wanted to run the ad, but had to wait until now because he did not have enough money.

“It has nothing to do with shock therapy,” he said. “I must advance the state of public understanding, no matter what the result of the campaign in the election booth.”

The ad begins with a scene showing children in a preschool, all of whom disappear. It then shows a fetus in a womb, soon followed by the abortion scene. In a voice-over, Allen attacks Democratic candidate Dianne Feinstein for her support of abortion and concludes: “We must work together until all of us are told the truth: That abortion takes a child’s life.”

Allen’s campaign obtained the abortion footage from a nine-minute video produced by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, an Anaheim-based anti-abortion group. Executive Director Gregg Cunningham said he did know where the abortion segment was filmed, nor did he know how advanced the fetus had developed.

In the recent Indiana primary, an ad showing photos of dead fetuses helped propel Michael E. Bailey, an abortion foe, to a Republican primary victory. Warnick said the Allen campaign is hopeful its commercial will have the same effect on their effort.

A spokesman for Feinstein, however, described the ad as “shrill hysteria from a right-wing” candidate and predicted it will have no bearing on the election.

Allen is seeking the Republican nomination to the two-year Senate seat against appointed incumbent John Seymour and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton).