Abortion foes protest Whitman at GOP fundraiser

Sandra Chereb

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1998 | 9:11 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Abortion foes picketed New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman outside a Republican fundraiser hosted by Nevada gubernatorial candidate Kenny Guinn and Rep. John Ensign.

About two dozen people representing a coalition of anti-abortion groups demonstrated Tuesday outside the Peppermill Hotel-Casino, where Whitman was the guest speaker at a breakfast focusing on women's issues.

"I think it's a disgrace to invite her here," said Janine Hansen, president of Nevada Eagle Forum. "We want to tell her to go home."

Protesters were equally critical of Guinn and Ensign for inviting her, though the candidates later said there's room within the Republican Party for disagreement.

"I happen to be for a woman's choice," Guinn said, adding that he respected the opinion of demonstrators.

Ensign, who opposes abortion, said it's not an issue in his race to unseat Democrat Sen. Harry Reid, because Reid also opposes abortion. And he defended Whitman, despite the critics.

"I think Gov. Whitman has done a lot of great things as governor," Ensign said. "You don't ever agree with people 100 percent of the time."

About 150 people, mostly women, paid $25 to attend the event, during which Whitman touted the accomplishments of her administration in New Jersey and praised Republican efforts on welfare reform, education, health care and child care.

The concerns of women, the governor said, are no different from those important to the rest of the country.

"We care about economic issues. We care about taxes. We care about regulation," she said.

"We are primary care givers and we will always be primary care givers. So we are going to care about our families. We are going to care about other people's families. All those issues are our issues," she continued. "We want our children to be able to succeed and that means they have to have a good education."

Whitman, considered by many to be a potential future candidate for president or vice president, also alluded to President Clinton's involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. She suggested that the president's behavior is more bothersome to women than men, despite polls showing his continued high approval rating.

"Women understand that it does matter," she said. "If your chief primary role model is behaving in a way that you don't want your children to behave in, then it does matter to you every single day."

Later, Whitman said her stance on abortion was misunderstood.

The coalition claimed she vetoed a New Jersey law that would have banned partial-birth abortions.

"I did not veto that legislation," she said.

Whitman said she rewrote the law to make it constitutional and to ban all abortions on a viable fetus unless the life or health of the mother is in jeopardy.

New Jersey lawmakers voted to override her veto and the law is now tied up in courts over constitutional issues, she said.