Tuesday, January 14, 2003

Abortion backers target Mich.

New ad campaign tries to sway 2004 presidential vote

By Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Michigan, with its first pro-choice governor in a dozen years, is among the battleground states targeted in a multimillion-dollar campaign to be launched this month by the retooled national abortion rights movement.

Leaders of the country's largest abortion rights group, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, say they face the most threatening climate for abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court barred most restrictions in its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. If he's re-elected in 2004, President Bush may have the opportunity to fill several positions on the U.S. Supreme Court with pro-life justices to follow his stance on abortion.

Starting this month, in connection with the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the pro-choice organization will air a TV and print advertising campaign and membership drive in Michigan and some 15 other states. The goal: to elect a pro-choice president.

"Michigan is a key battleground state in presidential elections and it's a state where we have identified several hundred thousand pro-choice people," said Kate Michelman, president of the abortion rights organization, which has renamed itself Naral Pro-Choice America. "We need to turn them into activists for freedom of choice."

Michigan is a toss-up state on the issue of abortion: According to a Detroit News survey in November, 45 percent of Michigan voters were pro-life, 47 percent were pro-choice and 8 percent were undecided.

Michigan abortion foes say Michelman may be overestimating her group's support here. "Their definition of pro-choice means Medicaid abortions, partial-birth abortions and no informed consent for minors," said Ed Rivet, legislative director for Michigan Right to Life. "They have a radical position that's not broadly supported."

Rivet added that the group's name change is an indication that "something hasn't been going right. They're not having the impact they want and now they're in desperation mode."

Abortion rights activists, however, have a powerful ally in newly elected Gov. Jennifer Granholm. She is the state's first pro-choice governor since 1990, when abortion opponent John Engler won the first of three terms. Michelman said she hasn't talked to Granholm about playing a role in the campaign.

"Clearly, we will want her to know exactly what we're doing, and we will invite her to participate any way she can," Michelman said. "She will be a strong pro-choice governor."

Granholm spokesman Mary Dettloff said Granholm will defend the pro-choice position as issues come before her.

"But for the foreseeable future, our priority is the budget," Dettloff said, referring to the projected $1.8 billion deficit in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Critical election

Michelman said 2004 looms as a critical election for abortion rights. Should abortion opponent President Bush win re-election and the opportunity to appoint new justices, the reasoning goes, Roe v. Wade could be overturned by the end of the decade.

"I'm afraid it's almost too late, because Supreme Court justices will be retiring soon," said Shelly Williams, 67, a retired dental hygienist from Ann Arbor and a member of the Michigan Abortion Rights Action League. "Polls show most people are pro-choice and we have to make sure everybody understands how important it is to vote."

Naral Pro-Choice America intends to focus on suburban women as well as women under age 35, who have grown up since the Roe v. Wade ruling and who may take abortion rights for granted.

"We already have an affiliate in Michigan and we need to organize in a very serious way, person by person, community by community, so we have a powerful force," Michelman said.

They'll need to convince voters like Cindy Leitz of Roseville, a 32-year-old homemaker and mother of two, that the issue is urgent.

"Abortion just isn't one of the major issues for me when I'm voting," Leitz said. "I'm more interested in the economy and what's happening overseas."

Building forces

The national abortion rights group has been quietly building its effort in Michigan. The group gave its Michigan branch $21,500 last year. Its state counterpart, in turn, contributed $17,042 to Granholm, which represented 84 percent of all its political action committee expenditures for the calendar year.

Right to Life of Michigan, in comparison, donated more than $50,000 to Granholm's opponent, Republican Dick Posthumus, state campaign finance records show. The group contributed $193,000 to all Michigan candidates.

"The comparison of cash contributions is a little misleading," Michelman said. "We spent $4 million (nationwide) in the last cycle in governor and U.S. Senate races. The group's work, independent from the state affiliates, involved investing in mail, phone banks, education and generally getting out identified pro-choice voters."

Rivet of Michigan Right to Life noted that Granholm also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Emily's List, a national group that backs pro-choice Democratic women candidates.

"We're the only pro-life group that contributes to candidates here. Compared to Emily's List, we're small potatoes," he said.

Rivet added that the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League "had a terrible track record" on U.S. Senate races it targeted in November elections.

"They got their clock cleaned. We wish them similar success in Michigan," he quipped.

Other states on the pro-choice organization's short list include: California, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, New Hampshire and New Jersey.

You can reach Mark Hornbeck at (517) 371-3660 or mhornbeck@detnews.com.