Quayles Clarify Stand on Hypothetical Abortion Case : Family: Both would reluctantly support adult daughter if she chose to end a pregnancy, but would seek to prevent such action by a minor child.

Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, would reluctantly support their daughter if she chose to have an abortion as an adult but would seek to prevent an abortion if she were still a minor, a spokesman for the couple said Thursday.

The statement by aide Jeff Nesbitt sought to end a burst of controversy that erupted when the Quayles seemed to offer conflicting views on the politically potent abortion issue during separate talk-show appearances Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Before it was over, the mini imbroglio had spread briefly to both abortion-rights and anti-abortion camps, each of which claimed that points had been scored for their side. Even Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton and House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) had their say.

In the end, the incident appeared to be a wash politically, but it demonstrated once again the volatility of the issue and the speed with which an off-the-cuff remark can spin out of control in this highly charged election year.

The abortion episode began on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Wednesday night as the vice president defended a plank in the Republican platform that calls for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. He said the plank will not be changed, despite pressure from some Republicans, but that the party remains open to those who disagree.

Then Quayle praised a Pennsylvania law requiring a waiting period and parental consent for minors who seek an abortion. The Supreme Court upheld those provisions last month, but struck down a requirement that a woman notify her husband.

Quayle called the law a good balance and said: “My daughter, for example, if she wants to take an aspirin at school, she has to call and get permission. If she wants to have an abortion, she doesn’t. I’m not sure that’s right.”

“What if your daughter grew up, had a problem, came to you with that problem all fathers fear? How would you deal with it?” King asked.

“I hope I never do have to deal with it,” the vice president said. “But obviously I would counsel her and talk to her and support her on whatever decision she made.”

“And if the decision was abortion, you’d support her as a parent?” King asked.

“I’d support my daughter. I’d hope that she wouldn’t make that decision,” Quayle said.

After the show Wednesday night, Nesbitt told Reuters news service that Quayle’s statement was not inconsistent with the Republican position. “I think the point he wanted to make is that he would support her and that’s what a father does,” Nesbitt said. “It’s consistent with individual responsibility.

“Right now in this country she has that choice,” he added. “Abortion is legal.”

The controversy seemed to intensify Thursday morning, when Marilyn Quayle was asked on a radio talk show in Des Moines what she would do if daughter Corinne became pregnant now and wanted an abortion. Corinne is 13.

“If she becomes pregnant, she’ll take the child to term,” Marilyn Quayle said forcefully.

“You will make that decision?” she was asked.

“We will make it with her,” Marilyn Quayle said.

The vice president, Nesbitt said, was responding to a hypothetical question about what he would do if his daughter became pregnant as an adult and came to him for advice. On the other hand, Nesbitt said, Marilyn Quayle was responding to what the couple would do if Corinne became pregnant as a minor. Nesbitt discounted news reports suggesting that the Quayles were in disagreement.

Quayle himself, on a campaign visit to Indiana on Thursday, told the Associated Press that his remarks reflected “no change at all” in his opposition to abortion.

“We are pro-life,” he said. “We are opposed to abortion.”

At a later campaign appearance in Lexington, Ky., Quayle was asked whether he would support his daughter’s decision to seek an abortion if the procedure were illegal. “I support my daughter . . . like any father,” he said.

Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League, took the opportunity to spin the incident in her side’s favor.

“While we welcome Vice President Quayle’s newfound respect for his own daughter’s freedom to choose, we regret that he and Bush want to take that same freedom away from everyone else . . .” she said. “The Bush-Quayle campaign is recognizing that it is out of touch with the majority of voters who are pro-choice.”

But Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee, saw it another way: “The vice president’s statements last night were consistent with his pro-life views, his role as a parent and the reality that abortion is legal . . . the love and support (of parents) continues even when children make serious mistakes or even when children commit acts with which their parents disagree.”

Clinton, asked about Quayle’s comments as he walked to his Capitol office in Little Rock, Ark., replied: “I don’t think I should comment on Dan Quayle’s relationship with his daughter. He made a personal statement.”

But the Arkansas governor, who supports abortion rights, went on to add: “I think it reinforces my position that these matters should not be turned back into crimes.”

Asked what he would do if his 12-year-old daughter, Chelsea, became pregnant, he said: “I wouldn’t talk to the press about it.”

Foley, asked if he thought Quayle’s comments represented a reversal, responded: “Sounds like choice to me . . . a respect for a woman’s right to make the decision.”