Abortion at forefront of governor's debate.

Byline: DAVID STEVES The Register-Guard

The flash-point issue of abortion rights is lighting up the Oregon governor's race like never before.

And that has Republican candidate Kevin Mannix and Democratic nominee Ted Kulongoski squaring off over whether they should even be having the debate.

Should the candidates for governor be scrutinized over their views on regulating or restricting access to abortion services by pregnant women and teen-agers?

Kulongoski, who's being supported by several abortion-rights groups, decided voters care enough about the issue to make it the subject of his first TV ads during the general-election campaign.

"(Mannix) is trying to argue that the governor has nothing to do with it. And that is just not true," said Kulongoski, whose TV ad states that `Kevin Mannix is against a woman's right to choose, and on the issue of choice, called his own views `extreme.' '

But Mannix, an anti-abortion candidate who has been endorsed by Oregon Right to Life, said his personal opposition to legalized abortions doesn't belong anywhere in a general-election campaign.

"My message is that the governor has very little to do with abortion," he said in a recent interview.

Mannix underscored that assertion with a TV ad in which he accused Kulongoski of "distorting my position" and "trying to distract you" from Kulongoski's own position on taxes and issues such as jobs, education and the economy.

A third candidate for governor, Libertarian Tom Cox, said he is "pro-choice" on abortion, although he opposed public funding for abortion services and supports requiring notification of parents before a minor receives an abortion. He said his fiscally conservative views and limited-government perspective on abortion and assisted suicide make him an alternative to Mannix.

In addition to the major-party candidates' dueling TV ads, a national abortion-rights group plans to spend thousands of dollars on its first-ever independent-expenditure campaign in a statewide Oregon race. All of this guarantees that voters will hear plenty more on the issue of abortion.

But should they?

Gayle Atteberry, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, said her group has identified more than 200,000 voters who vote for candidates based on opposition to abortions. And more than 100,000 voters are believed to choose candidates based on their support for continued access to abortion services, said Caroline Fitchett, executive director of the Oregon National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, commonly called NARAL.

If true, these estimates would mean about 16 percent of the electorate consider abortion to be a top issue when choosing candidates.

Both sides are working to reach out to their bases through phone banks and other means. But they disagree on how important it is to bring the abortion-rights fight to the general public.

Atteberry said Oregon Right to Life wants to keep the abortion debate out of the main election fray because it doesn't want its limited financial resources to go toward TV ads that would not generate much interest among average voters.

"We don't really want to make this as big an issue in the state as they want to," she said, "because we feel there are other things the voters are far more concerned with: jobs, the economy and their schools."

Abortion-rights groups counter that they want to engage the general electorate because it tends to vote "pro-choice" when it comes to abortion, as has been demonstrated in a series of statewide initiatives.

"Four or five ballot measures that Oregonians rejected over the last two decades might be some indication that Oregonians feel pretty strongly about this issue," said Maura Roche, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon.

Mannix makes no bones about his opposition to legalized abortions, a constitutional right since a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973.

It's a view Mannix has made little effort to hide, as a Democratic legislator and attorney general candidate and after he converted to the Republican Party in the late 1990s.

"I'm not saying it's unfair to point out I'm pro-life with my views. Hey, it's true. I am," he said this week, before quickly adding, "but it's not that people need to be beaten over the head."

The candidates' tussle over abortion politics is in large part a signal that both Mannix and Kulongoski are concerned about capturing women's votes, said Portland political analyst Jim Moore. Women, especially, take the "choice" issue into account when picking candidates, and Moore said Kulongoski's effort to portray Mannix as committed to limiting abortion rights is a way to pull independent and Republican women away from Mannix.

In turn, Mannix is trying to keep the campaign focused on issues that allow him to keep his base of supporters from fragmenting.

"He's not just trying to close the gender gap between the parties," Moore said, "but he's also trying to convince moderate Republicans that he's their candidate as well."

Despite his complaints about Kulongoski raising abortion, Mannix himself raised the issue in the primary campaign last spring.

He was running against two other Republicans. Jack Roberts, a self-identified "pro-choice" candidate, had expressed willingness to support limitations such as parental notification for minor girls and a ban on late-term "partial-birth" abortions. Ron Saxton was more reluctant to veer from his opposition to restrictions on abortions.

Mannix took to the airwaves to criticize both candidates for lacking his full-fledged support for such restrictions. It was a move he said was necessary because of concerns that anti-abortion Republicans might otherwise vote for Saxton, the front-runner at the time.

Kulongoski said Mannix is now trying to have it both ways: play the abortion card in the primary but try to keep the issue off the radar of Democratic and independent voters in the general election.

The candidates also disagree about the extent that a governor has a role in setting abortion laws.

"The office of governor has virtually nothing to do with that issue. It's a federal issue," said Mannix spokesman Mike Beard. "The governor cannot overturn a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court."

Beard said Mannix remains supportive of certain limitations on abortion rights, such as "informed consent," "parental notification" and "partial-birth" restrictions. But he took exception to opponents' assertion that Mannix was ready to launch an all-out assault.

"Kevin Mannix in a heartbeat would take away a woman's right to choose? That's just an absolute, flat-out untruth," Beard said.

Although Atteberry of Oregon Right to Life said her group doesn't expect a Mannix governorship to impose an outright ban on abortions, she acknowledged that its support for his candidacy - which includes campaign contributions in excess of $20,000 - is based on his desire to address the abortion issue.

Atteberry said Mannix's pledge to support certain limitations on abortion rights is important, but it doesn't make him an extremist. That's a label she said is more fitting for Kulongoski.

"He does not think parents have the right to know about their 15-year-old daughter getting an abortion," Atteberry said. "He does not think a woman should be offered all the facts about an abortion and carrying to full term. He's the extreme person."

Mannix has first-hand experience in pushing anti-abortion bills during his legislative career, including sponsoring a 1999 bill requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions that passed both chambers. Mannix also voted for a budget bill that eliminated funding for abortion services for low-income women. Gov. John Kitzhaber vetoed both bills.

Abortion rights advocates said the passage and vetoes of those two bills are evidence enough that the issue should be part of the debate over the next governor.

"You have a Legislature that is currently anti-choice, and an open seat for governor," said Fitchett, the Oregon NARAL director. "The governor has incredible powers ensuring that abortion remains safe, legal and accessible for the women of Oregon."

CAPTION(S):

Commercials for Ted Kulongoski (top) and Kevin Mannix are addressing abortion.