The Republican Party was once a long and proud tradition of pro-choice heavyweights, including former Minnesota Gov. Arnie Carlson, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, Sen. Arlen Specter, and former Connecticut Congresswoman Nancy Johnson. Many of these pro-choice Republicans have retired or lost re-election campaigns, which deeply concerns Republican Majority for Choice, a group that works to elect pro-choice Republicans and to take the anti-choice planks out of the Republican party platform.
RMC's priority for this election was to get a pro-choice candidate on the Republican presidential ticket. "We came close," said RMC co-chair Jennifer Blei Stockman, noting that John McCain's campaign seriously considered both Sen. Joe Lieberman and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge for VP, both of whom have long supported abortion rights. Instead, the party picked Palin, a member of Feminists for Life.
"Obviously we're thrilled it's a woman, having a woman run for office is a true barrier breaker," Stockman said. "But we know she's pro-life. We just don't know if she would like to overturn Roe. She does not have a statement about that yet." But last week in Palin's interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC, Palin's first television interview since she was named vice presidential nominee, the candidate said she does believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned and that laws regarding abortion should be made by the states.
Statement or no statement, chances are good that Palin would want to appoint justices likely to overturn Roe v. Wade. Feminists for Life was founded in the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision. The Republican National Coalition for Life, where Palin was scheduled to appear, says in their mission statement, "We will work to hold Republican lawmakers accountable to the pro-life principles in our platform. It is our desire to see those principles translated into public policy and law." And Palin told the Eagle Forum when running for governor in 2006, she is "pro-life," and believes that abortion should be outlawed in all cases, including rape and incest, except when pregnancy poses a threat to a woman's life.
In the end, the battle becomes about justices on the Supreme Court. Though McCain has made his judicial philosophy clear -- and essentially guaranteed the nomination of a "strict constructionist" justice or justices in the mold of Robert and Alito -- Stockman sees the Democratic Congress as a buffer to the most egregious of his possible choices: "Believe it or not, I'm not as concerned because Democrats will control the Senate and McCain can't propose [a judicial nominee] who's on the record as being anti-choice," Stockman said.
Despite RMC's optimism that McCain will prioritize other issues over women's health and rights, his track record aligns overwhelmingly with a pro-life agenda. As Sarah Blustain reported in The New Republic earlier this summer, McCain has voted against women's health and rights issues -- ranging from birth control access to abortion -- 125 out of 130 times. Even if he doesn't prioritize curtailing women's access to reproductive health services, his lack of engagement on this issue is remarkable. As a Planned Parenthood Action Fund campaign ad highlights, when McCain was asked what he thought about the fact that many insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control, his lengthy pause gives cause for concern.
Many moderate Republicans like those from RMC long for a return to a Barry Goldwater style of conservatism, in which the government stays out of personal issues of all kinds, from abortion to phone records. A recent poll (PDF) conducted by the Republican Majority for Choice discovered that more than 75 percent of Republicans believe the choice to have an abortion should be up to the woman, not the government. The poll also found that 66 percent Republicans that described themselves as pro-choice thought the woman, not the government, should make a decision about an abortion.
Pro-choice candidates aren't just confined to the highest-profile race this election season. "We felt very defeated -- all Republicans felt defeated after '06 but we lost [pro-choice Republicans like] Nancy Johnson," Stockman said. "We've lost a lot of our friends, our allies." Numerous congressional races, like that of retiring Minnesota Congressman Jim Ramstad are in play. State legislator Erik Paulsen is running on the Republican ticket for Ramstad's seat. Paulsen is largely running as a fiscal conservative, but Paulsen's record gets a 90 percent rating from the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.
Stockman also emphasized the need for younger Republicans, like Kate Whitman, daughter of Christine Todd Whitman, to run for office. These young people might be more likely to keep legislation away from personal choice issues. "There are so many young people who are turned off by the Republican Party," Stockman said. She hopes to recruit young pro-choice people to run in Republican primaries.
The Republican Party has always had to reconcile the traditional party model of a big tent with its militantly pro-life members. But now Republicans in the middle of the political spectrum are getting defeated in primary races or retiring from office. Those lining up to replace them are fervently pro-life, ready to take up the culture wars. The majority of Republicans want the government to stay out of a personal decision like abortion, so pro-life candidates represent a very small subset of the party. Unless the Republican Party supports more pro-choice candidates, they may end up with a very small tent.
