Leading pro-life activists drub McCain

Human Events, Feb 25, 2000 by D'Agostino, Joseph A

Though not necessarily impressed by Texas Gov George W. Bush, many prominent pro-fife activists from around the country say they like Arizona Sen. John McCain even less. None we spoke to, however, were willing to go as far as Alan Keyes, who said flatly, "John McCain has revealed his prochoice, pro-abortion heart."

In an interview with HumAN EvENTs (see page 16), Keyes said that if McCain or any other "pro-abortion person" is the Republican presidential or vice-presidential nominee, he will leave the party. "if they go for a pro-abortion nominee, they have lost me," he said. "The position I have taken is not personal to John McCain. It has been a general position. I articulated it years ago."

While Keyes will have nothing to do with McCain, former candidate Gary Bauer, who also made opposition to abortion a mainstay of his campaign, actually endorsed McCain last week, angering pro-life activists around the country.

"People are so upset" over Gary Bauer's endorsement of McCain, said Colleen Parro, director of the Republican National Coalition for Life (RNC/Life). "People have been calling all day long." Unlike many pro-lifers, however, Parro finds little separating the two leading candidates on the issue. "There's no difference fundamentally between Bush and McCain," she said. I think people ought to apply the same standards to all the candidates. George Bush is no better. Alan Keyes is the only truly pro-life candidate in the race." (As he says in his interview, however, Keyes himself can live with Bush, but not McCain as the GOP nominee.)

Parro had to issue a statement disassociating RNC/Life from the endorsement of McCain by its South Carolina director, Barbara Leonard, who did not return calls.

"John McCain wears a pro-life veneer. He's made conflicting statements on Roe v. Wade," said Holly Gatling, executive director of South Carolina Citizens for Life, which is associated with the National Right to Life Committee (NRTLC). Both groups' PACs have endorsed Bush. "His national campaign chairman, [former New Hampshire Sen.] Warren Rudman, is pro-abortion. Rudman calls Christian conservatives 'bigots,"' Gatling said. About Keyes' vow to leave the party if McCain is the GOP nominee, she said only, I think Alan Keyes speaks his mind."

Wildman, Schlafly Could Back Bush

Eagle Forum head Phyllis Schlafly said: "McCain has said something different every time he's opened his mouth. He has voted well on every issue except for fetal tissue research, but he is not pro-life in his heart."

"They are exaggerating the differences between the two," said Cyndi Mosteller, a veteran South Carolina pro-life activist who volunteers for McCain. "Both men are for rape, incest, and life of the mother exceptions. Both will not promise pro-life judges, but say they will appoint strict constructionists. I find their positions virtually the same."

Asked about Keyes' assertion that McCain is "pro-abortion," Mosteller said, I regret that Alan Keyes, who is the greatest orator of our time, is given to hyperbole. John McCain proved himself when he made that handicapped, cross-racial adoption from Mother Teresa's orphanage."

"McCain does not impress me," said the Rev. Donald Wildmon, president of the American Family Association (AFA). "I'm frightened of McCain. He wants to shut down nonprofits, prevent them from speaking out. That takes power away from the people." But, he said, though McCain "would be very weak" on life, "Bush would be just a question mark. I have friends in Texas who have known him for a long time. Some say he's semi, some say he's great... But what I've read and heard makes me think Bush would be more pro-life, but I don't know. Maybe Alan [Keyes] knows better than I do."

Both Wildmon and Schlafly left open the possibility of endorsing Bush at a later date.

Jim Sedlak, director of public policy for the American Life League, said, 'They both say they would allow some abortions and not others. They allow exceptions for rape, incest and the like. Neither is pro-life."

"He's now promoting a weakening of the pro-life plank," said Carol Long Tobias, director of NRTL PAC, referring to McCain's criticism of Bush's support for the current Republican plank despite Bush's support for rape and incest exceptions. "We would not say he's pro-abortion," said Tobias. "But he's not a reliable pro-lifer." She did not know why some longtime pro-life activists were supporting McCain. "I suppose they trust him," she said. "Apparently, they're not looking at his statements."

"Gary Bauer is a close associate of Bill Kristol," Schlafly ventured when asked why Bauer endorsed McCain. "McCain isn't particularly conservative socially." Insisted Gatling, "Gary Bauer is not pro-life. [Pro-lifers for McCain] have been deceived and misled."

"McCain says the NRTLC has made a business out of this. We're just a 'special interest,"' said Gatling. "What's our special interest? Unborn babies."