By KATHERINE PETERSEN
The Democratic race for state Senate District 13, which observers call the tightest primary battle in Santa Clara County, may hinge on the candidates' stands on abortion.
Newcomer Tom Hayes, who said he is adamantly pro-choice, has taken on veteran legislator John Vasconcellos, who isn't pro-choice but has said he will not vote against a woman's right to choose.
Although pro-choice may not be the most important issue in this race, it has emerged as a pivotal one: It is the first and only issue so far for which Hayes has sought media attention, and his press releases have elicited lengthy, somewhat heated rebuttals from Vanconcellos.
It also may be the issue that wins votes in Sunnyvale.
Debra Fowler, a Democrat who voted in three recent elections, according to a list of names compiled for The Sun by American Data Management in Mountain View, said she would lean toward a pro-choice candidate. However, she would favor a minimum age 18 requirement for women seeking an abortion.
candidate. But she would favor a minimum age 18 requirement for women seeking an abortion.
"At that age, a woman should be able to make up her mind. A woman younger than that should be forced to have the baby and put it up for adoption if she doesn't want it. I've been there. I would not vote for somebody who was not pro-choice," Fowler said.
Sunnyvale voter Irene Breining agreed, adding that she would vote for a pro-choice candidate over one who says he's not against it.
Candidate Hayes, who is director of global corporate affairs at Applied Materials and was chairman of the founding board of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley, said his polling has shown that 90 percent of voters in the 1996 primary are pro-choice.
Hayes said that, as a pro-choice state senator, he will vote for every choice vote, including the right to choose, access to care and clinics, and state funding for abortion. He said he will work to expand pro-choice ranks in the Senate and introduce bills that advocate choice.
"A woman's right to reproductive choice is fundamental. Being pro-choice is more important than ever now because those freedoms are under attack from the far-right Republicans in the federal government who want to take them away," Hayes said.
He said that depending on how many anti-abortion candidates win in the November election, the House of Representatives may be close to passing a constitutional amendment outlawing choice in America. Hayes said the state Legislature needs to be pro-choice if it must decide California's fate. Vasconcellos' promise not to vote against women's freedom of choice will not bring the same result.
"A abstention vote is as good as a 'no.' We'll make our case to the people because I think voters are more intelligent than [Vasconcel-los] takes them for if he thinks endorsements [from two women's organizations] are going to sway them. The facts are pretty powerful," Hayes said.
As a member of the state Assembly, Vasconcellos voted "yes" to include abortion as murder under the state's manslaughter statutes in 1970. In 1989, Vasconcellos did not vote on an amendment to the budget bill that would prohibit funding for abortion except in life-saving instances, rape or incest. And in 1991, he did not vote on a state resolution for Congress to provide abortion services to Medicaid patients, Peace Corps volunteers, federal employees and military personnel.
Vasconcellos stands behind his record, which he said Planned Parenthood, an abortion and health-care provider, has called 100 percent pro-choice. He admitted, however, that he would commit only to not voting against the right to choose.
"There's a life at stake. It's a most profound interaction of two sacred rights. A woman's right and a fetus's right to be alive," the candidate said.
Vasconcellos said that he lives in the present and that his beliefs have shifted closer to pro-choice over the years.
In 1993, he voted for bills that made contaminating an abortion clinic a public offense and that re-defined the terms "stalking" and "harass." In 1995, he voted against amendments to the state budget that would limit spending on family planning and would require clinics to hand out anti-abortion propaganda and to enforce a 24-hour waiting period for MediCal-funded abortions. He also voted against a $3 million cap on MediCal-funded abortions statewide. These funds could only be spent on abortions involving cases of rape, incest or life endangerment.
Vasconcellos said pro-choice versus not voting against choice is a "paper issue" that Hayes is trying to manufacture. "I don't fit labels, and labels don't fit me. I have a heart and a mind, and I deliver. People who use labels lack a sufficient sense of self," he said.
Vasconcellos said voters should base their decision on which candidate can best represent the interest of people in "times of peril."
"It's full-scale war. It's not a rookie camp," he said.
Hayes said his experience as a private-sector executive and community leader are "quite adequate to the task at hand."
"Citizen legislators like me will be the trend of the future," he said. "I'm the challenger and he's the veteran. It's been an uphill battle, and it's getting to be quite a tight race."
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a former Vasconcellos supporter, has endorsed Hayes this time around, largely because of his pro-choice position.
"He's committed to things I care about, like choice, family and education. Legislators must be vigorously and vocally pro-choice," she said.
At 48, Lofgren said, she can remember when abortions were illegal. "Women in my generation know someone who almost died," she said.
Although she respects Vasconcellos' beliefs and principles, she does not agree with them. "He has indicated publicly that he is not pro-choice and has a voting record to match that," she said.
Other women appear unbothered by Vasconcellos' beliefs. The assemblyman has received endorsements from the California chapter of the National Organization for Women and feminist activist Gloria Steinem. Democratic Activists for Women Now gave a dual endorsement, although Vasconcellos received almost two-thirds of member votes, which would have been enough for a full endorsement.
Larry Stone, former Sunnyvale mayor and Santa Clara County assessor, said he believes in choice and supports Vasconcellos.
"Not being pro-choice does not mean he carries the right-wing Republican banner of being anti-choice. We need to retain experienced people in the Legislature. He's voted for funding and abortions for women with low incomes," Stone said.
Stone said the race has the potential for becoming negative on both sides, but choice may not be the most important issue.
"Hayes will hit him on that issue, and it's a difficult issue in this district. Education is the most important issue. Legislators cast hundreds of votes on education, not choice," he said.
Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State University, identified Vasconcel-los as the favorite in the race. He said that Vasconcellos' position on abortion may be one of the only points on which Hayes can distinguish himself from Vasconcellos.
"Both of them are intelligent, able, liberal Democrats. I doubt we could find many policy differences between them," he said.
Christensen added that Vasconcellos' position on abortion is a weak point for the candidate, particularly in a district where pro-choice is a key issue.
"It's a bottom-line issue for some people, especially women," Christensen said. "Vasconcellos' record on the issue is a mixed bag at best."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 7, 1996
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