Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 31, 1993 TAG: 9303310332
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His position is that the Republicans' stand on abortion is the "most damaging, divisive, no-win issue facing the Virginia GOP." At best, this results from Miller being misinformed. At worst, this is intentionally false propaganda to promote a selfish agenda.
Expectedly, the pro-abortion forces distort the effect of the abortion issue on election results to suit their agenda. Elements within the GOP ignore the facts about voter sentiment concerning this issue.
Fact: A Voter Research and Survey exit poll commissioned by ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN shows that 7.2 percent of the total electorate voted for Bush on the basis of abortion, while 4.4 percent voted for Clinton on the basis of abortion, yielding a 2.8 percent pro-life advantage for Bush.
Fact: The same exit poll also gave voters the option of citing "family values" as the determining factor in their vote. This factor accounted for 27 percent of the Bush votes and only 8 percent of the Clinton votes. Thus, "family values" yielded an increment of between 6 percent and 7 percent of the electorate for the GOP in the presidential election.
Fact: The majority of Americans favor extensive limitations on abortion. The Boston Globe's own poll resulted in the headline, "Most in U.S. favor ban on majority of abortions." A January 1992 Gallup poll found that 75 percent of the public favors a 24-hour waiting period. A Wirthlin poll in November 1992 found that 55 percent think abortion should be legal, at most, in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. Parental notification is favored by 80 percent, according to a March 1992 Washington Post poll.
The GOP should not soften its moral stand on abortion, but could possibly benefit by moving away from a strict call for a constitutional ban on abortion. The GOP should maintain that abortion is wrong and support a state's right to restrict the practice. This would make more room under the GOP tent and highlight the complete inflexibility of the pro-abortion movement.
America has the most liberal abortion laws in the world, which most Americans do not favor. The pro-abortion (the Democratic platform) assumption is that any restriction on abortion is wrong. They are deathly afraid of having their case put before the American people. The Republicans actually have an opportunity to increase voter support by going on the offensive to expose the extremist nature of the pro-choice position. Am I mistaken in pointing out that the best way to win elections is to side with the majority of voters? BRYAN W. DISHNER PULASKI
by CNB