January 23, 2000

THE PLATFORM

Bush Says He Supports the Party's Strong Anti-Abortion Stand

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By FRANK BRUNI

AVENPORT, Iowa, Jan. 22 -- Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that he supports the abortion plank in the Republican Party's platform as it is written, wording that calls for a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure and makes no mention of exceptions for rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.

"I think that the Republican Party ought to keep its pro-life plank the way it's written now," Mr. Bush said, adding that those who drafted such an amendment would fine-tune the details.

"That's going to be up to the Congress, if America is ever ready for a constitutional amendment," Mr. Bush told reporters as he arrived to make a speech at a hotel here. He added that what was important, for now, was for Republicans to nominate somebody who can lead the country "toward a better understanding of life."

"The first step," Mr. Bush added, "is to convince Americans that we ought to value life, and that's exactly what I intend to do as the leader of the party."

At the same time, Mr. Bush layered his statement with nuances that signaled he was not readying himself for any kind of battle for an all-out ban on abortions. Further characterizing the kind of leader Republicans should choose, he said it should be a person "who is willing to find a common ground on issues, such as partial-birth abortion and parental notification."

It was the third day in a row that Mr. Bush had made statements about abortion that sounded emphatic in one sense, but hazy in another. His remarks seemed at once to underscore Mr. Bush's desire to send a sympathetic message to religious conservatives, who represent an important voting block in the precinct caucuses here on Monday and in other Republican primaries, and his interest in letting other Republicans know he is not on a crusade against abortion.

Mr. Bush has long said that he favors a constitutional amendment to ban abortion but that he would not press for one because the public support for it does not exist.

He has also said he supported exceptions in the case of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother. But the party platform makes no mention of those. Mr. Bush acknowledged that today but did not elaborate on that apparent discrepancy.

His communications director, Karen P. Hughes, said Mr. Bush supported the plank because it envisioned "a human-life amendment" and he believed Republicans should lead Americans toward that ideal.

She said Mr. Bush did not view the plank in the platform as contrary to his own views about what such an amendment might say, because "it doesn't itemize how that amendment would be written."

Ms. Hughes and other aides said Mr. Bush was not saying anything he had not said before, and distributed a longstanding position paper with this explanation of Mr. Bush's position on the platform:

"While Governor Bush respects those with differing views, he believes the current Republican Party platform plank on abortion is an important statement of pro-life ideals, and he does not believe it should be changed."

The plank represents a viewpoint on abortion more rigid than the one Mr. Bush has portrayed as his own.

For example, while Mr. Bush has said he would not use opposition to abortion as a litmus test in making nominations to the Supreme Court, the plank says, "We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent life."

The plank also says, "The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed." It does not mention any exceptions, but it also does not say that there can be no exceptions.

Since Mr. Bush arrived in Iowa earlier this week, he has been pressed repeatedly to elaborate on his views about abortion, in part because his chief rival here, the publisher Steve Forbes, is portraying Mr. Bush as soft on abortion.

Mr. Forbes is making an effort to appeal to religious conservatives, a group that Mr. Bush also would clearly not like to alienate.

At the same time, an unwavering opposition to abortion, and a clear statement of intent to work toward banning the procedure, might diminish Mr. Bush's appeal to centrist voters in the general election.

Mr. Bush did seem to edge away from his longstanding views on Thursday when he was discussing judicial appointments and said, "Roe v. Wade was a reach," referring to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established the right to abortion.