Unprecedented visibility and prominence for pro-abortionists
ABORTION LEADERS SPEAK AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

By Carol Tobias
NRL PAC Director

On Tuesday, August 15, the Democratic Party demonstrated its total surrender to the abortion lobby. At the same convention Democrats nominated a solidly pro-abortion ticket and renewed their commitment to abortion and tax funding of abortion in their platform. The Democratic Party also took the unprecedented move of inviting the head of the nation's largest pro-abortion group, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), to speak from the platform during prime time.

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd, NARAL President Kate Michelman warned that a "woman's right to choose" took a century to win but " could be lost in only one day -- and that day is Election Day." Pausing but a second, Michelman added, "That's why we must elect Al Gore and Joe Lieberman President and Vice President of the United States."

Michelman was just one of many proponents of legal abortion to speak at the convention, including the head of "Voters for Choice" and various congresswomen. But Michelman's appearance on national television was particularly noteworthy, given NARAL's prominence as the most visible leader of the pro-abortion movement.

Warming to her topic, Michelman said, "Just barely a quarter of a century ago, Roe v. Wade placed a woman's right to choose right where it belongs--in the sacred constellation of constitutional freedoms. But today, my friends, that freedom hangs in the balance of a very, very closely divided court. With

the appointment of just two Supreme Court justices hostile to Roe v. Wade, the freedom to choose will be lost." Michelman emphasized how much is at stake November 7. "One election is all it takes. It's that simple," she said. "This election is that serious. If he has the opportunity, George W. Bush will appoint enough Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe v. Wade and end legal abortion."

Michelman then explained how much supporters of abortion should fear Texas governor and GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush:

"At every single opportunity, Governor Bush has made clear his intent to restrict a woman's right to choose. He is one of our nation's most anti-choice governors. He won his party's nomination on a rigidly, rigidly anti-choice platform. And amazingly, Governor Bush found a running mate even more anti-choice than he is. That takes some doing."

She then contrasted the Bush/Cheney ticket with that chosen by the Democratic Party. "Al Gore and Joe Lieberman - - men of leadership and faith - - are pro-choice," she said. "Al Gore and Joe Lieberman will protect a woman's right to choose."

Michelman concluded her speech with a call to those who are "pro- choice" to "vote their values, vote their freedoms, to vote pro- choice and to vote for Al Gore and Joe Lieberman to be the next President and Vice President of the United States."

Michelman did not want for pro-abortion company on the podium.

Earlier on August 15, convention attendees heard from Kristina Kiehl, co-founder of the pro-abortion "Voters for Choice," and identified as a member of the Democratic Party Platform Committee. Kiehl told the audience, "Choice, our platform's fundamental constitutional liberty, is just one Supreme Court justice away from being overturned."

The two or three Supreme Court justices appointed by our next president, Kiehl said, "will have as profound an impact on our children's generation as Roe v. Wade... did on ours." She concluded, "We need Al Gore and Joe Lieberman."

So many other speakers mentioned abortion that it almost looked like a NARAL convention rather than a political party convention.

Nita Lowey, a pro-abortion congresswoman from New York, said, " Since 1995, the right to choose has been under assault by our opponents in Congress. They have forced almost 150 separate votes to roll back our freedoms.

"In this election, we risk losing a generation of progress. So we owe it to the American people to be perfectly clear. Make the right choice today, or there's no choice tomorrow."

Lowey also turned to the issue of the nation's highest court. "The next president will appoint as many as three or four Supreme Court justices," she said. "Together, we will elect Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, and a Democratic Congress."

Added Gray Davis, governor of California, "Our opponents reject Roe v. Wade. Al Gore stands four-square for a woman's right to choose."

Even Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, threw abortion into her speech: "If we want a Supreme Court that will...guarantee our right to make our own reproductive decisions -- then it is up to us... to elect Al Gore and Joe Lieberman."

Al Gore's daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, talked about what her father wanted to do as president and proudly proclaimed, "There's something else we must decide this November. It's about every woman's control over her own body and her own life. I believe in every woman's right to choose, and I know my father will always, always defend it."