Abortion Ruling May Affect Races : Politics: Two Democrats were expected to make abortion a key issue in an attempt to woo away Republican voters. The Supreme Court decision makes that prospect more difficult.

With the Supreme Court upholding abortion rights, Democratic candidates in two key Westside-South Bay legislative races might suddenly see one of their best “wedge” issues blunted.

Jane Harman, running in the 36th Congressional District, and Debra Bowen, a candidate in the 53rd Assembly District, have long thought their support for abortion rights would help win them large numbers of votes from like-minded Republicans. Such crossovers are crucial, since both candidates are competing on GOP-leaning turf.

Supporting their theory have been signs of broad public concern that the increasingly conservative Supreme Court might strike down Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion. But Monday’s ruling, while allowing states to enact abortion restrictions such as waiting periods and parental notification, left the basic principles of Roe intact.

That has raised the possibility that Harman and Bowen may now find it harder to chip Republican votes away from their GOP rivals--respectively, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores and Redondo Beach Mayor Brad Parton.

The Flores and Parton campaigns are confident that that will be the case. With the new ruling, they argue, fewer Republicans who support abortion rights will feel a need to break ranks. Said Allan Hoffenblum, a political consultant for Flores: “This decision does not broaden the base of those who are radicalized on the abortion issue.”

Bowen and Harman disagree, asserting that most voters still worry deeply about an erosion of abortion rights--be it from increasing state restrictions or the possibility that Roe will be reversed after another Supreme Court Justice retires.

“This issue goes far beyond whether abortion is constitutional or not at this moment,” Bowen said. “This is a visceral issue about control and personal freedom.”

However weighty abortion turns out to be in the fall elections, it is hard to imagine battle lines on the issue being drawn more clearly than they are in the two coastal districts, which overlap extensively. The 36th Congressional District extends from Venice to San Pedro, and includes Marina del Rey, Westchester and Playa del Rey. The 53rd Assembly District includes Venice, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Westchester and Playa del Rey and extends down the coast to Torrance.

Republicans Flores and Parton favor banning abortion except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother’s health. They also support two prominent restrictions upheld in the ruling Monday--Pennsylvania’s requirements that abortions be subject to a 24-hour waiting period and that teen-agers seeking to undergo the procedure first obtain the approval of their parents or a judge.

“If I had a daughter who needed a cavity filled, it would be against the law unless she had my approval,” Parton said. “This is a reasonable requirement for abortions, and I think the public agrees.”

Harman and Bowen, by contrast, strongly support abortion rights. They also oppose the waiting period and parental-consent measures. Though such restrictions seem reasonable, they argue, they could be used to make it far harder for women to terminate their pregnancies.

“With this ruling, it’s open season for states to enact pernicious restrictions under the guise of reasonable restrictions,” said Harman, who also supports the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, a bill being considered in Congress that would write Roe into law. “These measures are just one more hoop that may discourage women from exercising their choice.”

Even though Monday’s ruling did not overturn Roe, the two Democrats say, it will still prompt large numbers of voters to search for candidates who support abortion rights. They argue that besides allowing states to impose potentially onerous regulations, it also dramatizes how close women are to losing their abortion rights altogether.

The ruling was approved in a 5-4 vote, with the dissenting justices making clear they were prepared to overturn Roe vs. Wade entirely and to permit states to outlaw abortion. “The Supreme Court is on the edge of a very steep cliff,” Bowen said. “We are one justice away from overturning Roe v. Wade.”

The Flores and Parton campaigns say Monday’s decision effectively removes abortion as a potential threat to the two Republicans in the November election.

Parton said that although a poll he took showed 70% of 53rd District voters support abortion rights, few of these voters will now rank abortion high on their list of priority issues. Hoffenblum, Flores’ campaign consultant, agrees: “The repeal of Roe v. Wade in my opinion was Harman’s only chance to become competitive in the election.”

Even if abortion proves a prominent issue, the position of the two GOP campaigns is that Monday’s decision ensures that debate will center on specific restrictions such as parental consent, rather than on whether abortions should be allowed. They contend that on those restrictions, public opinion favors the positions of those who oppose abortion rights.

Flores, who opposes the Freedom of Choice Act, said: “What I hear from people in this district is that the restrictions (upheld) in the Supreme Court decision are restrictions they agree with.”