PRESS RELEASE
August 6, 1996

STATEMENT BY ANN LEWIS
DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Two months ago Bob Dole said that his platform would definitely include tolerance language on the issue of abortion:

"It has been resolved. I think I make that decision--it’s not negotiable. It’s the decision. And that’s going to be in the plank." (CNN Inside Politics 6/10/96)

Yesterday, Bob Dole agreed to the demands by Pat Robertson and Pat Buchanan, and walked away from his own commitment to "tolerance" toward those Republicans who support a woman’s right to choose. Now the 1996 Republican platform, like Bob Dole’s record, is clearly and consistently anti-choice.

Bob Dole opposed Roe v. Wade; voted against ending the gag rule in family planning clinics; and voted against the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act which protects clinics from violence. His platform will oppose Roe v. Wade. His platform will call for a constitutional amendment that would make abortion illegal for every woman in every state. His platform will demand the appointment of judges who meet an anti-abortion litmus test.

With his decision to abandon mainstream Republicans, and adopt Pat Robertson’s and Pat Buchanan’s definition of "tolerance," all traces of Bob Dole’s reported move to the center have been erased.

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