Dole Comment Renews Debate On Abortion Plank

Bob Dole stirred up the abortion debate again on Monday by saying he wanted a “declaration of tolerance” for the pro-abortion rights position “right up front where you can see it” in the GOP platform.

Dole’s statement in a CNN interview seemed certain to renew the divisive battle between the anti-abortion and pro-rights wings of the party at the GOP presidential convention in August.

Only last week, Dole sought to heal the rift by supporting a constitutional amendment to ban abortion while stressing that platform should include a “declaration for tolerance for divergent points of view on issues such as abortion.”

Strict abortion foes, such as primary opponent Pat Buchanan and Christian Coalition chief Ralph Reed, said Dole’s formula would be acceptable to them if the “tolerance” language were limited to the platform preamble and kept out of the main body of the party’s campaign statement.

But Dole told CNN that the “tolerance” prescription “is probably going to be in the abortion plank, not the preamble.”

Responding to Dole’s statement, Ann Stone, head of the 150,000-member Republicans for Choice, said, “That’s great, that’s preferable,” while acknowledging, “It’s not what Ralph Reed wants.”

Stone had pleaded with Dole to remove the abortion plank from the platform completely, or else pro-choice Republicans “will continue to desert Bob Dole for someone who will stay out of their private lives.”

Buchanan and Reed did not return calls for comment.