2 Races Offer Stark Choice on Abortion : Politics: 36th Congressional and 53rd Assembly races pit Republicans who want to outlaw abortion against Democrats who favor keeping it legal.

Activists on both sides of the abortion debate are preparing to do battle in the South Bay, where two key legislative races this fall will feature candidates with opposing views on the issue.

From as far away as Sacramento and Washington, political organizers are planning to make their presence felt in November election fights for open seats in the 36th Congressional and 53rd Assembly districts.

In the 36th, which stretches from San Pedro to Venice, last week’s primaries left Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, a Republican who opposes abortion rights, facing corporate attorney Jane Harman, a Democrat whose slogan is “Pro-Choice, Pro-Change.”

And in the 53rd, which runs from Lomita to Venice, the primaries also produced an abortion rights matchup: GOP nominee Brad Parton, the mayor of Redondo Beach who is opposed to abortion, against Democrat Debra Bowen, an environmental lawyer who favors abortion rights.

Although the GOP has more voters registered in each district, advocates of abortion rights say that, with their fund-raising and organizational help, the Democratic nominees will be able to use the abortion issue as an effective wedge against their opponents.

“We’ll definitely be helping Jane Harman and Debra Bowen,” said Linda Tangren, California president of the National Women’s Political Caucus. “That area is not so conservative as Orange County, so you’re going to find a lot of Republican pro-choice men and women willing to cross party lines.”

Anti-abortion activists, arguing that South Bay voters show broad support for their positions, hope to offset such efforts with some campaign work of their own. Said Brian Johnston, executive director of the California Pro-Life Council: “We plan to weigh in heavily.”

Until Tuesday’s primary elections, it was unclear how prominently abortion rights would figure in the general election campaigns for the two South Bay seats. Because the major Democratic candidates in both districts favored abortion rights, the issue would have been moot if the Republicans had chosen like-minded nominees.

And that was a possibility, given the surfeit of strong GOP candidates who support abortion rights. In the 36th District, there was Maureen Reagan, daughter of former President Reagan, and Bill Beverly, son of state Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach.) And in the 53rd District, there was former Torrance City Councilman Dan Walker, Redondo Beach City Councilwoman Barbara Doerr and Marina del Rey political consultant George Young.

But the victories by Flores and Parton guaranteed the general election clashes on abortion rights and immediately caught the attention of organizers on both sides of the issue. Said Robin Schneider of the California Abortion Rights Action League: “There are some stark choices down there.”

Democratic nominees Bowen and Harman say abortion is among several issues they plan to use to pry GOP votes from their Republican rivals. Others, they say, are the promotion of high-tech economic growth and environmental protection.

But both candidates consider abortion rights the most important of these so-called wedge issues. Public attention on the topic is intense, they point out, because the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to back away from its landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to abortion.

Some expect the court to take that action this summer. With polls already showing strong public support for abortion rights, Bowen and Harman say a pre-election watering down of Roe vs. Wade would only improve their chances to land crossover votes.

“If Roe is overturned or substantially gutted, a large number of Republicans will start looking for other candidates,” said Harman, who estimates that she received about $25,000 in contributions from members of women’s groups largely because of her abortion stance. “The challenge for me is going to be to make them aware of my stand and how important this issue is to women and enlightened men.”

Said Bowen: “There’s no doubt it’s an important issue. The contrasts are sharp.”

Abortion rights activists vow that they will help bring these contrasts to the attention of voters. Tangren of the National Women’s Political Caucus, for instance, says her group plans to donate money to Bowen and Harman and to urge followers to do the same.

“We’ll send out letters to people asking them to contribute to those campaigns and volunteer,” Tangren said Friday. “We have 23 (local organizations) in California and we plan to have two of them target these two races.”

Flores and Parton acknowledge that such campaigning could cut into their vote, but they assert that it will not do them major damage at the polls. Although South Bay voters may show some squeamishness about government curbs on abortion, they say, the issue does not rank high on their list of priorities.

Such topics as job growth and taxes easily eclipse abortion rights, the GOP nominees say, asserting that on both subjects, voters in the two districts feel far more comfortable with the Republican point of view.

“People are going to vote their pocketbooks,” Parton said. “The other side is going to want to make abortion an issue, but that’s because it’s the only issue they’ve got.”

Said Flores: “I’m more in tune with my district.”

Although the Republican candidates downplay the importance of the abortion issue, opponents of abortion plan to work hard to get their South Bay supporters to the polls.

Johnston of the California Pro-Life Council said his group will conduct telephone and mail campaigns for Flores and Parton in an attempt to blunt what will likely be an aggressive effort by abortion rights advocates.

Said Johnston: “It’s not going to be a cakewalk.”