WASHINGTON, D.C. REUTERS/NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE (July 25, 2000)

    Pro-abortion activists in the Republican Party reacted with dismay on Tuesday to pro-life Texas Gov. George W. Bush's choice of pro-life advocate Dick Cheney as his presidential running mate.

    ``As a pro-choice Republican, I'm very disappointed that Gov. Bush did not use this opportunity to select a pro-choice Republican woman for the spot on the ticket,'' Roselyn O'Connell, president of the National Women's Political Caucus, said in a telephone interview.

    ``I think it sends a clear message ... that there is not going to be the real option of getting the attention of Gov. Bush in terms of reproductive rights for women,'' said O'Connell, a Republican. ``It creates some serious questions in my mind: what do we do in November?'' she said.

    ``I think Bush has successfully united half the party, maybe only 30 percent of the party,'' Ann Stone, chairman of Republicans for Choice, said with heavy irony, erroneously claiming most party members favor abortion.

    However, leading pro-life advocate praised the choice. "We are extremely pleased with the selection of Dick Cheney," stated Carol Long Tobias, director of the National Right to Life Political Action Committee. "Mr Cheney had a one hundred percent pro-life voting record during his time in office and will be a great asset to the Republican ticket."

    Tobias countered Stone claims by noting that polling data has consistently shown that a pro-life candidate has an advantage among voters. Among voters who say that abortion affects the way they vote, the pro-life candidate is favored alomst 2 to 1 over the pro-abortion candidate.

    Pro-abortion Republicans now pin their hopes on their fight to change the GOP's pro-life platform.

    ``Bush had two opportunities to show that he wants to be inclusive: one was the (selection of) vice president and one was the platform,'' Stone said in a telephone interview.

    The crafting of the party platform, preceding next week's Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, is expected to be marked by fights over the pro-life position.

    In the 1996 platform, Republicans declared: ``The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed ... Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions and will not fund organisations which advocate it.''

    Stone wildly asserts that her group's polls have shown most Republicans -- from 68 percent to 80 percent depending on the poll -- believe abortion should be legal. The results are a far cry from virtually every prior poll which shows approximately two-thirds to three-fourths of Republicans take a pro-life position.

    The National Abortion Rights and Reproductive Action League (NARAL) said in a statement that Cheney consistently voted against their position -- to the delight of National Right to Life.

    "Dick Cheney has been unwavering in his support for protecting vulnerable human life including unborn children, the aged, and the medically dependent and disables," NRLC's Tobias concluded.

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