Abortion Ad Battle
Advocates and opponents of abortion have launched a wave of dueling political advertisements over the Bush administration’s regulations separating abortion from the nation’s Title X family-planning program, upheld by the Supreme Court last May. According to president Faye Wattleton, Planned Parenthood will be spending between $3 million and $5 million for print, television, and radio ads urging Congress to overturn the regulations, which prohibit any federal money from going to family-planning clinics that counsel or refer clients for abortion.
A broad-based prolife coalition is countering with its own effort based on the theme that “abortion is not a method of family planning.” The coalition, already comprising 17 prolife groups, will spend at least $1 million to produce print and radio spots they hope will dispel the “disinformation abortion advocates are putting forward” on the issue.
Dueling lobbying efforts have also been taking place. Last month the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights sponsored a “Direct Action Day” on Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress to vote against the regulations. Meanwhile, supporters of Focus on the Family and Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition have been tying up phone lines at the White House and the Capitol urging that the rules be retained.
Number-Three Dem Is Prolife
House Democrats last month overwhelmingly elected prolife Rep. David Bonior of Michigan to the number-three slot in the Democratic Caucus (majority whip). Despite the party’s firm platform support for “reproductive rights,” Bonior has accumulated a solid prolife voting record during his 14 years in the House. “If I am called on to express my views, I will express the views of my party … but reserve for myself the ability to vote my conscience,” Bonior said about his position on abortion.
Bonior will replace Rep. William Gray (D-Penn.), who is resigning from Congress to become president of the United Negro College Fund. A Baptist minister, Gray said he wanted to spend more time with his family and his church.
Hatfield Removes Name
Faced with ongoing federal investigations into his financial practices, U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Oreg.) is removing his name from official association with several Christian organizations. Christian College Coalition (CCC) vice-president for advancement Rich Gathro confirmed that Hatfield has requested his name be taken off the CCC board of reference to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest. Several news reports on the investigations have noted that former CCC president John Dellenback forgave about $75,000 in personal loans to Hatfield (CT, June 24, 1991, p. 63).
Hatfield has also asked the Christianity Today Institute to remove his name from its list of resource scholars. “While this is a draconian step, I am convinced it is one I must take to avoid any opportunity for my official actions to be linked to some presumed self-interest of mine,” the senator wrote to Christianity Today, Inc.
Hatfield is also on the advisory board of Evangelicals for Social Action, but at press time, the organization said it had not received information that Hatfield planned to resign.
