Abortion Rights Becoming A Factor In Several State Elections

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 28 Jul 2010 - 5:00 PDT

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Abortion politics are influencing state races in Georgia, Massachusetts and South Dakota. Summaries appear below.

~ Georgia: Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and former Rep. Nathan Deal, candidates in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, are facing criticism for past votes that some observers say benefited abortion-rights groups, the AP/Macon Telegraph reports. Recently, Handel -- who opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman -- has faced attacks from abortion opponents about a vote to provide funding for family planning clinics, including $400,000 to Planned Parenthood, during her time as a member of the Fulton County Commission. Leola Reis, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Southeast, said the money funded cervical cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections, contraception and other services at an Atlanta clinic that does not offer abortion services. Deal, who opposes abortion except to save the woman's life, has faced questions over a 1993 vote he made while serving in Congress as a Democrat to authorize federal funding for family planning clinics, including Planned Parenthood. Deal said that he has always opposed abortion rights and that his opposition has grown since then. Handel also has been "feuding" with Georgia Right to Life (McCaffrey, AP/Macon Telegraph, 7/25). Handel has accused the organization of distorting her views on abortion and in vitro fertilization, and said the group is "wrong" in its calls for sharp restrictions on fertility treatments and in vitro fertilization. Handel has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin (Gould Sheinin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/24).

~ Massachusetts: Timothy Cahill, state treasurer and an Independent candidate for Massachusetts governor, won an endorsement last week from the antiabortion-rights group Massachusetts Citizens for Life State Political Action Committee, despite assertions from Cahill's campaign that he "would never do anything to overturn Roe v. Wade," the Boston Globe reports. Cahill won the group's endorsement based on interviews he had with group representatives and answers he gave to a questionnaire in which he said he supported a ban on abortions later in pregnancy and abortions for sex selection. He also indicated support for making a fetus a second victim in crimes against pregnant women, requiring women to receive an ultrasound prior to an abortion and mandating a 24-hour "reflection period" before an abortion, according to the Globe. In addition, Cahill expressed opposition to embryonic stem cell research. The PAC pledged to mobilize more than 100,000 activists in support of Cahill's candidacy. Cahill, a longtime Democrat who became an Independent to pursue a gubernatorial bid, faces two abortion-rights supporters in the election -- Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick and Republican nominee Charles Baker. Cahill, in an effort to woo conservative voters dissatisfied with the GOP ticket, has staked out increasingly conservative stances and selected a running mate, former state Rep. Paul Loscocco, who opposes abortion rights (Ebbert, Boston Globe, 7/26).

~ South Dakota: Kristi Noem, a Republican challenging incumbent Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D), recently won the endorsements of two groups opposed to abortion rights, the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund and the Concerned Women Political Action Committee, Jonathan Ellis writes in a Sioux Falls Argus Leader column. As the election approaches, "Democrats feel they can exploit Noem's antiabortion background to their advantage by tying her to" statewide abortion bans that were "convincingly rejected" by state voters in the past decade, Ellis writes. Noem's campaign notes that Herseth Sandlin has received support from abortion-rights advocacy groups, Ellis writes (Ellis, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 7/25).

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