Abortion Issue Catapulted To Higher Profile In The Presidential Campaign
The razor thin (5-4) Supreme Court decision in Carhart vs. Stenberg on June 28th striking down a dangerous anti-abortion ban passed by Nebraska legislators and 31 other states, pushed the abortion issue to the center of the presidential election. Democratic Presidential Candidate, Al Gore, who is pro-choice, stated yesterday that:
“The next president will nominate at least three, probably four, perhaps four justices to the Supreme Court. One extra vote on the wrong side of those two issues would change the outcome and a woman’s right to choose would be taken away.” Women’s rights activists expressed grave concern over the 2000 Presidential Election outcome in making Supreme Court and Federal Judge appointments. According to a June 18th Los Angeles Times Poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans “say they have no clear sense of either candidate’s position on the issue at this point in the presidential races.”
Press accounts indicate that Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, who is anti-abortion, seems to be following an early campaign decision of trying to keep abortion out of the presidential debate. Yet many anti-abortion leaders have urged Bush to speak out on the importance of future appointments to the Supreme Court for abortion. Phyllis Schafly of the Eagle Forum commented that she would like “him (Bush) to aggressively criticize the (Supreme Court) decision and to say how important it is that we have judges who respect innocent human life.” Others say that abortion presents a grave threat to the National Republican Party’s strategy to win the White House and other elections, with 68% of Americans, including possible swing and independent voters, favoring keeping the decision about abortion between a woman and her doctor (6/18/00 Los Angeles Times Poll).
[Source: New York Times – 28 June 2000]