Republican Party

Monday, Jul 31, 2000 12:25 PDT

Three votes from a fight

Pro-choice Republicans come up short -- barely -- from bringing a battle over abortion to the convention floor.

By Adele M. Stan

PHILADELPHIA -- As the speakers at the Republican National Convention continued to sound the theme of party unity, the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition came within inches of landing an egg on the convention's opening day's smiley face.

After being denied the opportunity to present, in an annex to the platform known as a minority report, alternative language to the Republican National Committee's plank that calls for an end to all legal abortion, leaders of the Republican pro-choice movement gathered petitions from convention delegates into Sunday night's wee hours. But, according to RPCC national director Lynn Grefe, they came up three delegate votes short of the majority of six state delegations required in order to bring a resolution to the convention floor.

Put more simply, the ladies came within three votes of cracking the convention open with a floor fight on the GOP's most divisive issue.