Bernstein ad rips Ensign on abortion

Friday, Sept. 8, 2000 | 11:38 a.m.

Underdog Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bernstein continued his newly established role as attack dog by unveiling television advertisements criticizing Republican foe John Ensign's pro-life stand on abortion.

This is not the first time former Rep. Ensign has become embroiled with a political opponent over the abortion issue.

But pro-choice Bernstein is attempting to make abortion a high-profile issue in this state for the first time since Nevadans voted overwhelmingly in 1990 to support the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade that legalized the controversial procedure.

Bernstein said his 30-second ad, which began airing Thursday in Las Vegas and Reno, was fueled by a comment Ensign made to the Associated Press last week.

"He made the comment about an abortion being a worse mistake than a rape," Bernstein said of Ensign. "He has made such comments for several years, and it's important for voters to be aware of that. The words speak for themselves."

Ensign, who has said he opposes all abortions except in cases involving rape or incest, was quick to bash the ad.

"This is nothing more than a misleading personal attack by an obviously desperate campaign," Ensign said in a prepared statement. "Let me make something perfectly clear. Rape is a terrible and heinous crime, and it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The ad shows a blurred image of Ensign that becomes clearer as an announcer says: "He called the Supreme Court decision giving a woman the right to choose, 'One of the worst judicial decisions ever made.'

"He supports a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Now he says if a woman is raped and becomes pregnant an abortion would be 'to follow one mistake with another mistake.' John Ensign actually believes an abortion is 'worse' than a rape. Issues do matter, and John Ensign goes too far."

The quotes attributed to Ensign were excerpts taken from Nevada news reports. When asked to clarify his opposition to taxpayer funded abortions, Ensign told the Associated Press last week: "I don't want to pay for somebody else's abortion.

"Recognizing that obviously rape and incest are not somebody's choice, I don't want to follow one mistake with another mistake. I was not saying they (the victim) made the mistake. Somebody else did that to them. But I don't want to follow that up with something worse."

Another partial quote in the ad was taken from a January 1998 article in the Sun that examined the history of the abortion issue in Nevada in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Roe decision.

Ensign, who has said he was once pro-choice, told the newspaper he would support a pro-life constitutional amendment but doubted it would pass.

"The only chance of overturning Roe is in the courts," he said then. "A constitutional amendment wouldn't pass. But I don't think a constitutional amendment should even be necessary. Roe vs. Wade was one of the worst judicial decisions ever made."

Bernstein, a Las Vegas attorney, ranked his pro-choice position along with issues such as health care and the environment as an example of his sharp differences with Ensign.

"I am pro keeping government out of private lives," Bernstein said. "It is an area where government has no right to be."

If elected this November, however, Bernstein said he would not use his pro-choice position as a litmus test to help confirm nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. There has been speculation that the next president will be nominating at least three new justices to the high court, which could have major bearing on the future of the Roe decision.

Ensign campaign chairman Pete Ernaut likewise said his candidate would not use his pro-life stand as a litmus test for judicial nominees. But Ernaut said Ensign will defend himself "anytime someone distorts our record."

"We expected Ed Bernstein to go on a negative attack on many issues, this being one of them," Ernaut said. "He has a desperate campaign. He's way back in the polls, and he's broke."

Ensign, a Las Vegas veterinarian who served two terms in the House, had been enjoying a double-digit lead in polls during a rather placid campaign. But the race suddenly turned ugly last week when a television ad began airing that attacked the Republican's votes on Social Security, Medicare and health maintenance organization reform.

The ad commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee forced Ensign to spend money on his own ad that showed senior citizens chiding Bernstein for "lying" about Ensign's record.

Bernstein's abortion ad, along with an endorsement ad from retiring Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., that began airing Wednesday, are scheduled to run through Sunday and cost Bernstein's campaign $45,000.

During his successful 1996 House re-election campaign, Ensign and then-Democratic foe, state Sen. Bob Coffin of Las Vegas, debated the merits of partial-birth abortions.

Ensign voted with the House majority to outlaw the procedure, but the Senate upheld President Clinton's veto. Coffin sought to remind voters that a majority of Nevadans favor a mother's right to make her own decision.

That was in reference to Question 7, a successful 1990 statewide ballot initiative that supported the Roe decision. The result was a state law that legalized all abortions performed by licensed physicians within 24 weeks of pregnancy. The law also permits late-term abortions to preserve the life or health of the mother.