Pro-Abortion Republicans Will Hold Largest Fundraiser Ever at GOP Convention

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 23, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Abortion Republicans Will Hold Largest Fundraiser Ever at GOP Convention

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 23, 2004


New York, NY (LifeNews.com)
— In addition to their efforts to overturn the Republican Party’s pro-life position on abortion and to include a unity plank into the platform, leading pro-abortion Republicans are planning to hold their largest fundraiser ever. The shindig will receive support from some key Republican notables.

Jennifer Blei Stockman, co-chairman of the Republican Majority for Choice, a pro-abortion political action committee, says her group will hold its biggest fundraising effort on the second night of the convention at a club in New York City.

Stockman told the Greenwich Time newspaper that she expects 450 people to attend, including members of Congress, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York first lady Libby Pataki.

"We’ve never done anything of this magnitude," Stockman said. "We’re calling it the ‘Big Tent Event,’ because we’ve invited everyone, all Republican members of Congress, even those who are not pro-choice."

The event will honor the 40 pro-abortion Republican members of Congress.

Stockman also said her group would try to influence the Republican Party platform, which for decades has backed a Human Life Amendment to the constitution. However, she admits the prospects are dim.

"With an incumbent president, I think it’s very unlikely that we’re going to see changes," she told the Connecticut newspaper.

Last week, pro-life Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was chosen to craft the abortion part of the platform.

Pro-life attorney Jim Bopp is a member of the platform committee and he told LifeNews.com that Barbour’s selection should ensure the platform will remain strongly pro-life.

"I am very pleased with the appointment of Gov. Haley Barbour as chairman of the Family subcommittee," Bopp said. "He has a strong pro-life and pro-family record and will be a powerful advocate for President Bush’s positions."

Bopp, who has done legal work for the Republican Party and is general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, tells LifeNews.com that he "expect[s] the pro-life plank to be retained and strengthened."

Though most Republicans, including President Bush and most GOP members of Congress, are pro-life Stockman told the Greenwich paper she plans to stay in the party and hopes to change it from within.

"But instead of leaving the party, as so many people have done, we’re organized, we are now well-funded, and we’re in there, working within our own party structure to try to change things," Stockman said.