Abortion moves to forefront of GOP race for governor

CHICAGO -- Abortion has become a focal point of the Republican campaign for governor, with candidates gambling on their view as the one most likely to win primary votes.

Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood, who supports abortion rights, brought the issue to the forefront this week with a TV commercial that calls her opponents "too extreme" on the issue.

Attorney General Jim Ryan responded with his own ad accusing Wood of misleading voters.

And State Sen. Patrick O'Malley, who like Ryan opposes abortion, declared himself the only Republican candidate willing to "stand up for the lives of innocent children."

Single-issue voters

"Do I think abortion drives voters in the primary? Absolutely. The one thing we know is true of Republican primary voters is that as single-issue voters, they get out and vote," said Gary Mack, a Republican political consultant.

But Mack said there may be as many or more abortion opponents ready to vote on that issue as the socially liberal suburban women Wood hopes to court. Conservatives tend to dominate GOP primaries, he said, making Wood's gamble unlikely to win her many additional votes.

"I'm not doing this for political advantage. I'm doing this because I believe it's the correct position," Wood said Wednesday at a news conference to rebut Ryan's new ad.

That ad, released Tuesday, says Ryan "will support reasonable restrictions on abortion, like parental notification, a waiting period and a ban on partial-birth abortion."

His commercial does not mention the main issue in Wood's ad: that Ryan and O'Malley oppose abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

"Is Jim Ryan pro-life? He sounds like he's pro-choice in that commercial," said Dan Proft, an O'Malley spokesman.