FRI-SAT-SUN
January 7-9, 2000
volume 11, no. 5

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    NEW MARKET, New Hampshire (CWNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley on Wednesday attempted to trump each other's claims as to which is more pro-abortion, while Republican candidate Steve Forbes reconciled his pro-life views with the conservative principle of smaller, less-intrusive government.

    Supporters of Gore and Bradley met at a rally before the Democratic debate Wednesday night with Bradley's supporters saying Gore had once been pro-life. "I have always been pro-choice and I always will," Bradley was quoted as saying. His supporters pointed out that Gore, as a Tennessee congressman 20 years ago, voted pro-life 84 percent of the time.

    Gore's campaign responded that his support for abortion is unwavering. "Al Gore has always been pro-choice throughout his career," spokesman Chris Lehane said. "And more than that, he stayed and fought against the Republican Congress to protect women in America -- whether it was on choice, equal pay, child care, and other family issues, while Senator Bradley declared the system broken and went home."

    Meanwhile, Forbes told a supporters at an event in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, that the way to change people's hearts on abortion is to treat the issue with dignity and compassion. Answering a question on how he, as a conservative, could support less intrusion into people's lives by government, but also be against abortion, he said: "Here we have profoundly different views on the meaning of freedom. To me, it's the freedom to be born. To you, it's the mother's right to choose."

    He added, "I acknowledge and respect our differences, but I believe that if we treat the issue with dignity and compassion it could be an issue that inspires, not divides, our country."

          

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