Abortion debate makes Republicans fear for votes [View All]

[DaveColorado]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20051129&ID=5313955

Abortion debate makes Republicans fear for votes


Financial Times
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Abortion-rights groups are mobilising their forces against Samuel Alito, President George W. Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, and pro-choice Democrats have vowed to question him closely during his confirmation hearings, looking for any indication he might cast a deciding vote against abortion rights.

But the possibility that Mr Alito might move the court closer to overturning Roe v Wade – the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in the US – is also prompting concern from another part of the political spectrum: suburban Republicans, who worry that such a move would destabilise the delicate political balance that gives them much of their support.

"You're going to have a lot of very nervous suburban candidates" if Roe is overturned, said Tom Davis, a Republican congressman from suburban northern Virginia, near Washington.

The comments from Mr Davis – who led his party's congressional campaign committee in 2002 – show the tension between the long-sought goal of social conservatives to outlaw abortion and Republican hopes of attracting growing numbers of suburban voters.

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