Dole Offers Abortion Compromise for GOP Platform

Bob Dole on Friday sought to quell the abortion debate among Republicans by unveiling a compromise proposal for a “declaration of tolerance” in the GOP platform, a move that placated many conservatives but upset some important abortion rights advocates within the party.

The continuing dispute kept alive the potential for a fight on the issue at the GOP national convention next month in San Diego.

In his latest approach, Dole, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, strikes a tough antiabortion stance but also calls for a tolerance declaration that would appear in a new section of the platform. This plank would recognize that party members “have deeply held and sometimes differing views on issues of personal conscience like abortion and capital punishment.” It adds: “We view this diversity of views as a source of strength, not as a sign of weakness. . . .”

Previously, Dole had said he wanted the expression of tolerance incorporated into the platform’s abortion plank itself.

Several Republicans who favor abortion rights immediately criticized the compromise and raised the prospect of a convention floor fight--precisely what Dole has been seeking to avoid since he broached his initial tolerance proposal in early June.

The abortion language is “not acceptable to those like myself who strongly believe in a woman’s right to choose,” said Massachusetts Gov. William Weld.

Weld vowed to continue fighting for “a more inclusive party platform with real ‘big tent’ language,” adding that the tolerance language “is transparently begrudging toward those who hold the pro-choice point of view.”

Nor did Friday’s proposal satisfy all of the conservative critics of Dole’s efforts on the abortion front. Angela (Bay) Buchanan, the sister and campaign manager for Patrick J. Buchanan, called the proposed tolerance plank “unacceptable as written.” Her brother, who remains a candidate for the presidential nomination, emerged as Dole’s toughest foe in the GOP primaries and has yet to endorse him.

The new bid to defuse the abortion issue was developed in collaboration with Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, chairman of the Republican platform committee. Hyde strongly opposed Dole’s earlier suggestion that the tolerance language be added directly to the abortion plank, which calls for a constitutional amendment banning all abortions.

Hyde and many other conservatives objected that the declaration of tolerance should not apply solely to the abortion issue.

“Bob Dole proposed a good-faith effort to address these considerations, and I welcome his initiative,” Hyde said. He added that he will include the proposed compromise in the draft platform that will be presented at the convention.

Hyde’s endorsement greatly increases the chances of its adoption by convention delegates. The initial reaction from other conservatives also bodes well for the compromise proposal.

“It was handled in a messy way, but Dole comes out of it OK,” said William Kristol, a conservative commentator and publisher.

Ralph Reed, director of the Christian Coalition, expressed support “wholeheartedly and unreservedly,” adding: “We anticipate no fireworks or floor flights at the Republican Convention over the abortion issue.”

The Rev. Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, with 31,000 member churches, also hailed the agreement.

“Diversity is an OK word,” he said. “I’m pleased with this and with what Henry Hyde said about it. . . . Our march to San Diego is becoming more in unison.”

Republicans who took exception included Michael Cudahy, National Political Director of the Republican Coalition for Choice, and Ann Stone, who chairs Republicans for Choice.

They said they were surprised and angered by the announcement because their organizations had been excluded from the process.

“Frankly, I think what the Dole campaign has done is a sham and a farce,” Cudahy said. “This whole process is offensive. It will make it very difficult for pro-choice Republicans to reach detente with the Dole campaign.”

And if that remains the case, he said, “I see no option but direct confrontation at the convention.”

New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, an abortion rights backer and a potential Dole running mate, had a more mixed reaction.

She said she could “fully support” both the tolerance principle and the tolerance plank, but was “concerned that the plank on abortion is as uncompromising as it is.”

The compromise plan would not only leave intact the GOP’s current plank on abortion, but would add to it a denunciation of President Clinton’s veto earlier this year of a so-called partial-birth abortion bill.

Along with the separate tolerance plank, the Dole-Hyde agreement also calls for creating a seven-point “statement of principles” preceded by this introductory sentence: “The Republican Party is a broad and diverse party, whose members may have differences of opinion on many important issues.”

Also new would be a specific statement of the party’s “tolerance principle,” which states: “Recognizing within our own ranks different approaches to achieving our common goal, we urge respect for the sanctity of human life.”

Bay Buchanan, in criticizing the proposed platform language, said, “Abortion is not an issue of ‘personal conscience,’ as [the tolerance plank] states. It is a matter of morality, or right and wrong, life and death.” She said if the plank is not changed, “We will fight to alter it or to replace it.”

Joe Lockhart, a spokesman for Clinton’s campaign, said Dole has “clearly decided to stand with . . . the right wing of the Republican Party.”

Dole’s abortion proposal came a day after Democrats moved to resolve their own differences on abortion. In Kansas City, party platform writers produced a draft declaring that abortion rights are a “fundamental constitutional liberty.” But the document also included a “conscience plank” that said party members “respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue.”

Times staff writer Bob Sipchen in Los Angeles contributed to this story.