Students votes hinge on abortion views

For many Penn undergraduates, the issues that have dominated the presidential debates do not seem pertinent to their lives. Yet, many women on campus have strong opinions on abortion -- and are heavily weighing the candidates' opposing stances on the topic -- in deciding who to vote for on Election Day. In a Daily Pennsylvanian survey conducted earlier this week, three-quarters of the women surveyed rated abortion as an issue likely to affect how they will vote. But only 47 percent of men said the same. Abortion has become a particularly hot topic in this election cycle, with the recent FDA approval of the new RU-486 abortion bill and President Clinton's veto of a bill banning what opponents call "partial-birth" abortions. And most people believe the next president will appoint at least two or three new justices to the Supreme Court, which could change the landscape of the abortion debate. Democratic candidate Al Gore is running on a ticket promising to protect a woman's right to have an abortion and to expand reproductive health care. Republican hopeful George W. Bush is pro-life, though he would allow for exceptions in the case of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother. The debate over which opinion is right has carried over onto Penn's campus, with many women and even some men in arms over the controversial issue of abortion. Co-Chairwoman of Penn for Choice Jessica Moschella is registered as independent and is voting for Gore on November 7 because she feels that "as a voter, it is important to pick the issues that make you partisan. Abortion is definitely the strongest issue for me, it is enough to change my mind." But David Heitzman, president of Penn for Life, sees the 1.2 million abortions that he says occur each year as 1.2 million deaths. The Engineering junior explained that he is "in favor of limiting abortion, if not outlawing it." Moschella disagrees. "Pro-choice gets misconstrued as being pro-abortion," Moschella, a College junior, said. "What pro-choice means [is] it's for the choice, an option that should be available." Heitzman, a registered Republican, says he will vote for Bush even though he feels Bush did not take a strong enough stance on the issue. Moschella said that "people say that Bush really won't appoint justices that will overturn abortion." But she argues, "The threat is enough." Wharton sophomore Lauren Staudinger, who is pro-choice, said that abortion swayed her vote for Gore on the absentee ballot that she has already completed. "I feel that if Bush is elected he would be strongly urged by his party to try and make [the RU-486 pill] illegal and... Gore would make that available." College senior and registered Republican Amy Strain, who considers herself to be pro-life, said she is voting for Bush and admires his position on the topic, "which takes a lot of balls to take a strong stance." For Wharton junior Jamie Himaya, who is not affiliated with either major party, "abortion is an issue, but it is not one of the biggest issues. I am pro-life, but there are other issues that push me towards Gore also," she said. Some pro-choice voters are also considering voting for Green Party nominee Ralph Nader, a liberal who is pro-choice, such as College junior Monica Lee. Lee says she will never vote for Bush because she "was horrified" in the first debate when Bush announced that he was pro-life. Miriam Pogach, a College junior who is voting for Gore as a Democrat, agrees with his pro-choice stance and feels that whether abortion is legal or not, women are going to seek them out. Banning abortion "is not a good solution," she said. "It's kind of a no-win reality that needs to be kept in America."

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