Kevin Leininger: Do local pro-life endorsements matter? Do they produce the desired results?

March 30-- Mar. 30--Last week's endorsement of mayoral hopeful Tim Smith and 11 other Republican candidates in the May 7 primary by the Allen County Right to Life Political Action Committee has reignited an old debate: Is abortion really a local issue? Do such endorsements really benefit the pro-life cause?

Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters is living proof that the answer to the first question is "yes" and the answer to the second is "not necessarily" -- a paradox of local history pro-life voters might want to remember as they consider candidates on the May and November ballots.

Smith, an executive with MedPro, a medical insurance company, has made it clear that if elected he would use both the bully pulpit and the law if possible to promote life in Fort Wayne because "abortion is relevant at every level of government." Primary opponent John Crawford, a physician and City Council President, has said he will not take a public stand because he does not consider abortion relevant to the job. In November the winner will challenge three-term incumbent Democrat Tom Henry, a member of the pro-life Roman Catholic Church who has also been largely silent on the issue.

But there has been no legal abortion clinic in Fort Wayne since 2013, and the irony is that the public official most responsible for that is Peters, not man who defeated him in the 2007 GOP mayoral primary with the help of the Right-to-Life PAC. Given the Republican Party's large and active pro-life base, Peters is probably correct when he says the endorsement contributed to a victory by architect Matt Kelty's many considered an upset.

Kelty, like Smith, promised to be a pro-life mayor. But by the time the general election rolled around, he had been indicted by a federal grand jury on seven felony and two misdemeanor counts related to alleged campaign-finance violations and perjury. That November, Henry -- who initially had been reluctant even to seek the office -- became mayor by winning 60 percent of the vote and has been re-elected twice since.

"I answered the (PAC's) questionnaire the same way (Kelty) did," Peters recalls. "They even endorsed four at-large City Council candidates (when only three per party can be nominated), but just one mayoral candidate." As I reported in 2007, Peters was surprised and disappointed by the PAC's unanimous for Kelty, and several prominent pro-life Republicans agreed. "This (pro-life) movement is bigger than any single candidate," said then-U.S. Rep. Mark Souder. "The (Kelty) endorsement was for the candidates' tactics, not values," pastor Rick Hawks of the Chapel, a large non-denominational church in Aboite Township, added in reference to the PAC's explanation that Kelty was endorsed over Peters because he had been more involved in pro-life activities.

Kelty's primary victory and the surrounding issues, in fact, helped create a rift in the county Republican Party that has still not completely healed. But regardless of his personal feelings, Peters remained a pro-life champion and in 2009 led the three Commissioners as they passed a bill requiring so-called "itinerant" doctors lacking privileges at local hospitals to have a local back-up physician. Although the commissioners insisted the bill was not targeting abortion, it did affect Dr. Ulrich Klopfer of Illinois, who had been performing abortions in Fort Wayne for years. When Klopfer's local back up withdrew in 2013, he was forced to close his clinic at 2210 Inwood Drive and it has never reopened.

So, yes: However rare it may be, local officials can influence abortion within the framework of state and federal law and Supreme Court decisions. Another irony is that, had Peters been elected mayor, he would not been in position to pass a county-wide law. But what could years-old events possibly have to do with an election in May?

Just this: In addition to its 2019 endorsements the PAC also listed five candidates who had identified themselves as pro-life. In a statement, PAC Communications Director Cathie Humbarger explained that "Pro-life advocates want to support those that may aspire to higher office." In other words, the endorsements were made with an eye to the future -- which has not pleased some of the non-endorsed pro-life candidates and supporters who are not looking beyond May 7.

I write this not to support or oppose mayoral candidates of either party -- I like all three, actually -- but to point out the lesson of history. Smith and Crawford have each pledged to support the other after the primary, but will single-issue voters be willing to support a candidate they consider insufficiently pro-life?

What if that perception is wrong? Has it already affected one general election? Could it happen again?

This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. Email Kevin Leininger at [email protected] or call him at 461-8355.

___

(c)2019 The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)

Visit The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) at www.news-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.