Resolution Would Deny Funds To Gop Supporters Of Abortion

Anti-abortion activists plan to push for Republican National Committee approval of a resolution that would withhold GOP funds to Republicans who oppose a ban on late-term abortions.

The conservative publication Human Events will report next week that the proposed resolution, to be offered at the RNC’s winter meeting declares that “the RNC considers the partial-birth abortion technique as a crime and pledges to deny Republican Party support or funding to any Republican incumbent or challenger who does not support banning the procedure.”

Charles “Chuck” Yob, chairman of the RNC’s Resolutions Committee, said he has yet to receive such a proposal, and voiced doubts about its acceptability.

He pointed out that under the proposed resolution, the GOP would be barred from supporting the re-election campaign of New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who vetoed a late-term abortion ban passed by the state legislature. “I’m against partial-birth abortions, period,” he said, adding, “I’d rather vote for Christie Todd Whitman than I would for some other liberal person who was a Democrat.”

Republican leaders generally have opposed setting party litmus tests for candidates, often citing Ronald Reagan’s view that anyone who supports the party 80 percent of the time is “a friend, not a foe.”