REPUBLICANS' POSITION ON ABORTION IS COMPASSIONATE AND SMART

Carol Scoville is president of Missouri Right to Life.

For years now, abortion advocates have been threatening the Republican Party. Abortionists say that if pro-life Republicans want to stay in office, the party must change its position from pro-life to pro-abortion. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) has made it an election year tradition to claim that they will vote out of office any pro-life candidates, especially Republicans.

But the bold claims have not been proven true; in fact, election after election proves that pro-life candidates enjoy a significant advantage among single-issue voters on abortion. A long list of pro-life Republicans have been elected not only in the 1980's, but also after the 1989 Webster decision which allowed states to regulate abortion.

Republican candidates who have stood strong in their pro-life positions have fared well all around the country. In 1988, President George Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle ran on a solid pro-life ticket and soundly defeated pro-abortion Democrats Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen. In the watershed 1990 elections, Republicans Kirk Fordice of Mississippi and Guy Hunt of Alabama became the first Republican governors in their states in more than 100 years. These candidates know that abortion stops a beating heart, and they have had the fortitude to go against conventional wisdom, stand up for their principles and win.

We've also seen Republicans desert their party's pro-life stance and lose to pro-life Democrats. Pro-life Governors Robert Casey and Joan Finney have both bucked their party's pro-abortion stance and beaten pro-abortion Republicans; Finney defeated a Republican incumbent.

This year will be no different. Principled pro-life candidates will win; pro-abortion extremists will lose. That's because Americans recognize a person with principles when they see one. On the issue of abortion, many Democrats have left their pro-abortion party to vote for principled pro-life candidates such as George Bush a direct benefit for the Republicans because of their pro-life stance.

Pro-life candidates receive an eight percent boost from self-identified strong Democrats who will not vote for a pro-abortion candidate, according to a 1992 Wirthlin poll. The poll also suggests that Republicans gain an advantage from other groups as well. Fully 19 percent of Americans who say they "lean (toward) Republican" will not vote for a pro-abortion candidate while just six percent of them will vote single issue pro-abortion; that's a 13 percent advantage for a pro-life candidate among those who lean toward being Republican.

Independents also help Republicans who are pro-life. Fully 23 percent of Independents will vote single issue pro-life, while only 14 percent will vote pro-abortion. That's a 9 percent pro-life advantage from people with no party affiliation! The Republican pro-life candidate can claim these voters without competition. The Democrats who desperately need to reclaim undecided voters and Reagan Democrats won't be able to until they change their party's pro-abortion stance.

The fact is, most Americans oppose most abortions. According to many polls, Americans oppose all but a few circumstances in which abortions occur. The views of Republicans on abortion strongly reflect what the American people want parental consent laws, informed consent laws, and protections for unborn children from death by abortion for sex selection, or as a method of birth control.

Republicans will keep their stance that favors protecting unborn children. It'~s not only the right thing to do, but it's the politically smart thing to do.