Abortion, Gay Rights Divide GOP Candidates

Aug. 5, 2007 — -- The once-vaunted Republican unity on major social issues is a thing of distant memory in the 2008 presidential campaign, with major players in the GOP field divided against one another on the hot-button issues of abortion and gay rights.

The party's national front-runner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, supports abortion rights and a range of domestic-partnership benefits for gay couples -- positions that put him at odds with conservative doctrine.

Another top candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, was also "pro-choice" on abortion for most of his life, until switching his position less than three years ago.

While several second-tier candidates have down-the-line conservative records on social issues, general dissatisfaction with major candidates' records on abortion and gay rights leaves many in the party pining for other candidates to enter the race.

No candidate is challenging party orthodoxy on social issues more than Giuliani.

After struggling to articulate his views on abortion early in the campaign, Giuliani has affirmed his support for abortion rights, calling the debate on the controversial issue "deeply personal."

He addresses the concerns of social conservatives, however, by saying he would appoint "strict constructionist" judges to federal courts -- judges who would presumably be open to reversing Roe v. Wade.

Giuliani opposes gay marriage and supports domestic-partnership benefits in which gay and lesbian couples are treated as if they were married for purposes of health care, hospital visitation rights and inheritance matters.

As mayor of liberal New York City, Giuliani voiced supported for civil unions, but he now says he opposes civil unions if they would simply be gay marriage by another name.

Romney ran for senator in 1994 and governor in 2002 as a supporter of abortion rights; he said in 1994 that "you will not see me wavering on that."

But he said he changed his mind in late 2004, in the midst of a stem cell debate in Massachusetts, and now says he considers himself strongly "pro-life."