Rohrabacher, Felando Seen Vulnerable on Abortion Issue

All went swimmingly for GOP Congressman Dana Rohrabacher last week at a public meeting in heavily Republican Palos Verdes Estates.

Swimmingly, that is, until the abortion issue surfaced.

“If the majority of the women in the Republican Party and the men feel that you should give us freedom of choice . . . don’t you feel that you should represent us?” asked Barbara Gleghorn, a Republican on the board of the Palos Verdes Peninsula League of Women Voters. Rohrabacher, who had been rapped by several others in the audience for seeking to outlaw abortion, snapped: “If the majority of people in my district, even by a great majority, believe that I should kill a baby, I would say that we should not make it legal.”

Rohrabacher (R-Lomita) and state Assemblyman Gerald Felando (R-San Pedro), two of the South Bay’s staunchest abortion opponents, are up for reelection this year. Though both are ensconced in Republican districts, potential rivals from other parties are hoping that the rekindled abortion issue could cost the incumbents GOP votes.

So far, two would-be challengers, a Democrat and a Libertarian, have said they will run for Felando’s seat. Three others--all Democrats--have said they plan to take on Rohrabacher. All describe themselves as “pro-choice” on abortion.

And all but the Libertarian say they expect to make major headway with the issue of abortion--a prominent election issue since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Webster decision July 3, giving states greater flexibility to restrict abortion.

“Congressman Rohrabacher’s extreme positions make him very vulnerable, particularly with reference to abortion,” said Guy Kimbrough, one of the Democrats planning to run for his seat.

Democrat Marilyn Landau, a former Los Angeles Teachers Union vice president who intends to challenge Felando: “Pro-choice is my biggest reason for running. I’m concerned about what happened with the Supreme Court decision and think we need to have more pro-choice opinion in Sacramento.”

At Rohrabacher’s Town Hall meeting in Palos Verdes Estates, several Republicans voiced concern that dissatisfaction with the congressman’s position could cause defections from their ranks.

Betty Field, saying she was speaking for “a lot of mainstream Republican women” who object to Rohrabacher’s support for government-imposed curbs on abortion, drew strong applause when she said: “We feel you may self-destruct.”

Despite the unrest, local Republican organizers express confidence that Felando and Rohrabacher are in no immediate danger. For the largely conservative voters in both districts, they say, support for the incumbents’ conservative voting records will outweigh any qualms about their stands on abortion.

“I think the voters in those two districts will consider their entire records, and 99 cases out of 100 will agree with them,” said Steve Johnson, director of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.

Rohrabacher’s and Felando’s anti-abortion credentials are unquestioned.

Last year, his first in Congress, Rohrabacher took the anti-abortion position in all seven abortion-related votes by the full House. In one, he voted against overriding President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have lifted restrictions on federally funded abortions in cases of rape or incest.

The override attempt failed. As a result, federal money can be used to pay for abortions only when the pregnant woman’s life would be endangered by carrying the fetus to term.

Before the Webster decision was handed down, Rohrabacher joined a group of House and Senate members in calling on the Supreme Court to use the case to overturn the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973, which established a woman’s right to an abortion.

Felando, meanwhile, has voted consistently to restrict state funding of abortions. Observers say he has opposed abortion more actively than the other two South Bay state legislators who have voted with the anti-abortion camp--Sen. Robert Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) and Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-San Pedro).

“Out of the whole (South Bay) group, probably the strongest anti-abortionist is Felando,” said David Alois, director of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, a group that advocates abortion rights.

Elder is up for reelection this year, but Beverly is not. With the start of the candidate filing period still more than three weeks away, it is difficult to tell who, if anyone, may challenge Elder.

As of Wednesday, no one has collected voter petition forms as a first step toward qualifying to run for Elder’s 57th Assembly District seat, according to the county registrar-recorder’s office. (Candidates can avoid paying steep filing fees for public office if they gather a minimum number of voter signatures instead.)

Two people, however, are circulating petitions in hopes of competing for Felando’s 51st Assembly District seat--Landau, the Democrat, and William Gaillard, a member of the Libertarian Party.

Three people planning to run for Rohrabacher’s 42nd Congressional District seat have taken out petitions--all of them Democrats.

They are Kimbrough, a community college instructor from Orange County whom Rohrabacher defeated in the 1988 general election; Jim Cavuoto of Torrance, publisher of a computer industry newsletter, and Rolling Hills Estates resident Bryan Stevens, former president of the California Teachers Assn.

Although several of these would-be candidates admitted that they have personal qualms about abortion, all five said they strongly support leaving abortion decisions to pregnant women and their physicians--not to the government.

All but Gaillard said they favor some degree of public funding for abortion. And all but Gaillard consider the abortion issue their most important entree into what might otherwise be hostile Republican territory.

“The abortion issue is going to be the key issue,” said Stevens, who headed the teachers union from 1973 to 1975, referring to the 42nd District congressional race. “Republican women think (Rohrabacher’s position) is ridiculous, and they’re going to vote for someone else.”

Kimbrough said one of his volunteer staff members is working exclusively on contacting abortion rights groups for endorsements and campaign contributions.

Despite all the faith in the abortion issue, any non-Republican challenging Rohrabacher or Felando faces an uphill battle at best. A key reason is party registration.

As of September, 1989, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats 89,331 to 61,573--a 53% to 36% advantage--in Rohrabacher’s congressional district, which stretches from the South Bay beach cities to Huntington Beach.

In Felando’s Assembly district, which includes much of the South Bay’s upper-income coastal territory, the GOP held a 95,519 to 67,453 advantage over Democrats--or 52% to 37%.

Numbers like these complicate the already difficult task of beating an incumbent.

Financing is another factor working in Felando and Rohrabacher’s favor. The likely challengers are not well known. They could have trouble gathering the contributions needed to finance effective districtwide campaigns.

And that, coupled with the natural Republican advantage in the two districts, could prompt abortion rights groups to concentrate their resources on more promising races.

Robin Schneider, director of the Southern California affiliate of the California Abortion Rights Action League, said the two South Bay legislative districts seem forbidding.

“We’re just beginning our targeting process, but I must say those races wouldn’t be at the top of our list,” Schneider said. “Those districts are solidly Republican.”

But Linda Joplin, state coordinator for the California branch of the National Organization for Women, said her organization may help finance opponents of Felando and Rohrabacher. She cited the changed political climate produced by the Webster decision.

“Our previous political analysis no longer applies,” she said. “So many people consider the issue of reproductive rights so important.”

Felando and Rohrabacher said they feel confident that their abortion stands will not jeopardize their reelection bids.

Felando predicted that the abortion issue will cost him few, if any, votes. He said that while surveys show most of his district’s voters believe that women have a right to have an abortion, most also oppose public financing of abortions.

“I’m very confident,” Felando said. “If there is an effect (from the abortion issue), it’s going to be very, very small.”

Rohrabacher said: “I think my position on abortion will cost me votes.” But he added: “I’m confident people will take into consideration my overall voting record rather than having one issue make the difference.”