Abortion Foes Shred Dole’s Tolerance Clause

In a stinging rebuke of the party’s expected nominee, Republican platform writers Monday shredded Bob Dole’s proposed “declaration of tolerance” on abortion--dramatically underscoring Dole’s lack of control over his party on the eve of his nominating convention.

At the same time, the platform panel also opened a new conservative front in the continuing controversy over illegal immigration, approving a call for a constitutional amendment that would deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country to parents here illegally.

In June, Dole had called for adding the tolerance language, saying, “I have been chosen the Republican nominee, and I intend to run on a platform that reflects my views.” The wording of the party platform was his decision, he declared.

Monday, he discovered otherwise. Even the phrase “tolerance is a virtue” was stripped from the document Dole’s aides had written, as a coalition of religious conservatives and backers of Patrick J. Buchanan banded together to take out any specific references to differences within the party on abortion.

The action came despite last-minute lobbying by the Dole campaign, which had gone so far as to make the candidate himself available by phone to delegates in the hopes of garnering votes.

The decisions by the panel writing the platform’s abortion section left almost nothing intact in Dole’s original tolerance clause--just a generic statement that Republicans have a diversity of viewpoints on unspecified issues.

Antiabortion activists cheered. “This is a big win for the pro-family movement,” declared Ralph Reed, head of the Christian Coalition.

Dole aides did their best to put a good face on the move. “We got the abortion issue behind us,” declared Paul Manafort, Dole’s convention manager.

But abortion-rights advocates were despondent. “That’s called spin,” Ann Stone, a prominent Republican abortion-rights supporter, said of Manafort’s remark. “This was not good for Dole.”

A spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson called the platform panel’s actions “regrettable.”

“We will continue to fight to see that the views of a majority of Republicans in this country are represented,” said Sean Walsh, the governor’s press secretary.

Last week, Wilson had said that he, Gov. William F. Weld of Massachusetts and other abortion-rights supporters would try to amend the platform to change its current call for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions. A move in the 25-member platform-writing panel to do that lost Monday by a vote of 20 to 4.

The panel’s decision on the tolerance clause “probably takes us close to a floor fight. It looks more and more like it may be inevitable,” said a source close to Wilson. It remains unclear, however, whether Wilson and other abortion-rights advocates are willing to stage a public fight on abortion--something Dole has tried ardently to avoid.

On immigration, the platform-writing panel adopted the call to change the nation’s citizenship rules with relatively little debate after Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) told fellow committee members that the idea would be a political plus for the party. McCollum has been a leading conservative voice in Congress on immigration policy.

The platform committee also endorsed barring the children of illegal immigrants from public schools, declaring that “illegal aliens should not receive public benefits other than emergency aid” and “should not be qualified to claim benefits for their offspring.”

The proposal on citizenship echoes an idea that Wilson supported, but did not emphasize, during his campaign for governor in 1994. Other leading Republicans have opposed it, however, including Texas Gov. George W. Bush and two of Dole’s primary opponents this year--Steve Forbes and Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas. Dole took no position on the issue during the primaries.

The language, which could still be dropped as the platform committee continues deliberations, declares that the party supports “a constitutional amendment or constitutionally valid legislation declaring that children born in the United States of parents illegally present are not automatically citizens.”

Because the constitution explicitly states that all persons born in the United States are citizens, legal scholars have been unanimous in saying that a constitutional amendment would be required to change it.

The proposed platform would also denounce President Clinton for opposing California’s Prop. 187--the anti-illegal-immigration proposition passed in 1994.

The signs of trouble for Dole on abortion began early Monday, as antiabortion activists released a letter declaring, “There must be no change in our pro-life plank.” The letter also demanded that so-called “tolerance” language not be in the same section of the platform as the antiabortion plank.

“So-called tolerance language that implies moral equivalency between abortion and lesser issues is not acceptable,” said the letter, which was signed by Reed; Angela “Bay” Buchanan, the manager of her brother, Patrick’s, presidential bid; Gary Bauer, head of the Family Research Council; Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum; Judie Brown, president of the American Life League; the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, president of the American Family Assn.; Colleen Parro, director of the Republican Coalition for Life; and Tom Pauken, chairman of the Texas Republican Party.

The controversy over abortion reflects deep divisions within the party and among the nearly 2,000 delegates to this convention over the issue.

A recent survey of the delegates conducted by The Times and several other news organizations showed that 18% support a constitutional ban, without any statement about tolerating different views.

Another 27% said they would support a ban along with a statement on tolerance.

On the other side, 10% oppose having the platform endorse a constitutional ban, while 25% favor eliminating reference to abortion altogether.

Times staff writer Dave Lesher contributed to this story.

* SECURITY TIGHTENED: San Diego officials prepare for antiabortion protests. A3