ARTICLES

Wheat and Chaff

RUNDOWN OF WHO'S PRO-LIFE, WHO ISN'T

By Maggie Garcia

Here is a rundown of San Diego's political races in the November elections.

In San Diego County, there are five U.S. congressional races. In the 48th Congressional district, Ron Packard is pro-life, according to the California Pro-Life Council, one of the largest pro-life groups in the state. Packard is running unopposed.

The 49th Congressional district, which includes much of the coastal area from La Jolla to Imperial Beach, has three candidates vying for the seat: incumbent Brian Bilbray, Christine Kehoe, and Ernie Lippe. Though he called himself pro-choice, Bilbray, a Republican, garnered enough pro-life support to win in 1994 by pledging he would not vote for government funding of abortion. Bilbray has since consistently broken his promise, garnering kudos from Planned Parenthood.

Opposing Bilbray this year is pro-choice Democrat Christine Kehoe, a city council member and self-proclaimed lesbian. Kehoe's campaign literature trumpets her city council votes "to protect patients at reproductive health clinics from harassment by protesters." Myrna Zembrano, Kehoe's chief of staff, explained that Kehoe has supported a recent San Diego municipal "bubble" ordinance which restricted pro-life demonstrators from being closer than 15 feet from any sidewalk that leads to the entrance of an abortion clinic. (Cheryl Sullenger of the California Life Coalition said, "As far as I know, that ordinance has never been enforced.") The sole pro-life candidate in the race is Lippe, a Libertarian.

Incumbent Bob Filner, an ardent pro-choice Democrat, is unopposed in the 50th Congressional district.

In the 51st Congressional district, Randy Cunningham, the incumbent Republican, is being challenged by pro-choice Democrat Dan Kripke. Though Cunningham calls himself pro-life, he did vote to enact FACE (the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances act), which upset many in the pro-life community.

Duncan Hunter is the incumbent for the 52 Congressional District. Pro-lifers in the San Diego area consider him to be one of their strongest allies in Congress. The California Pro-Life Council has endorsed Hunter, as well as nine others in San Diego County, in the November election. Hunter is unopposed in his district.

In the California state senate, the 36th district Republican incumbent, Ray Haynes, is being challenged by George Swift. Haynes has a solid pro-life voting record and his committment to the unborn was evident during the recent budget battles in Sacramento. Every year since 1980, when the Rose Bird state supreme court ruled that Medi-Cal must pay for abortions, pro-lifers have urged legislators to vote against the budget until such funding is cut. In 1997, four senators and nine assemblymen voted against the budget. In 1998, four senators and 13 assemblymen voted against the budget. Bob Cielnicky, coordinator of the Alliance Against Abortion Funding, pointed out that pro-lifers picked up four votes this year. "We're hoping this is now a trend," he said.

Republican Bill Morrow is running for the 38th Senate district. According to Sylvia Sullivan, a member of the Republican Central Committee, while Morrow has a solid pro-life voting record and voted against the budget, he endorsed pro-abortion Republican Linda Escher Davis in her unsuccessful 76th district primary challenge to strong pro-lifer Duane Admire.

Bruce Thompson, a pro-life Republican incumbent who represents the 66th state assembly district, is being challenged by Patsy Hockersmith. In response to pro-life questionnaires, Hockersmith calls herself pro-life, though some members of the pro-life community said that there are rumors to the contrary. The California Pro-Life Council has decided to endorse Thompson, since he is the incumbent and is proven pro-life. Thompson was one of a handful of state legislators who have been commended by a coalition of pro-life groups for their "stout-hearted " defense of preborn children.

Betty Cordoba, long-time pro-life activist and first vice chairman of the San Diego Republican party, pointed out how in the June primary there were twice as many women candidates as men. Cordoba lamented the fact that many women will vote for a woman based on gender rather than issues. She feels that the gender factor is what allowed so many pro-abortion women candidates to defeat their male opponents.

In the assembly races, Cordoba cited Patricia Bates (73rd district), Charlene Zettel, (75th district), and Dr. Jean Roesch (78th district) as examples of pro-abortion Republican women who beat out their generally pro-life male opponents. Bates is opposed by Robert Wilberg, Zettel by David Debus, and Roesch by Howard Wayne. All three men are pro-choice Democrats.

Howard Kaloogian, a Republican from the 74th assembly district, is pro-life and has in the past voted against the budget because of abortion funding. He is opposed by Democrat Bill Fitzgerald, who has not responded to pro-life questionnaires.

In the 76th Assembly District, which includes Rancho Peñasquitos, Republican Duane Admire faces a tough race against an entrenched incumbent, Susan Davis, who is "very liberal and pro-abortion" according to Cordoba.

Steve Baldwin, a conservative Republican who represents the 77th assembly district, has long been a pro-life champion. He is being challenged by pro-choice Democrat Marge Carlson. Baldwin did not spend any money in the June primary and still managed to garner 60 percent of the votes.

Carl Kinz, a Republican in the 79th assembly district, faces pro-choice incumbent Denise Ducheny. Kinz and his wife are the parents of 11 children. He has earned the respect of pro-lifers because of his unbending committment to the unborn.