Abortion rights group, Senate candidate Kirk spar on vote

[ccharles000]

A leading abortion rights group delivered a rebuke to Republican U.S. Senate contender Mark Kirk today for supporting an amendment to the House-passed health care reform legislation that would prevent taxpayer-backed insurance policies issued under the plan from providing abortion coverage.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said it no longer regards the five-term North Shore congressman “as a moderate, fair-minded supporter of women’s privacy and rights” and that the organization “no longer considers Kirk pro-choice” on abortion.

In response, Kirk’s campaign contended the congressman continues to support abortion rights — except for the use of federal funds to pay for the procedure. His camp also said NARAL had distorted Kirk’s record in his first campaign for congress when the group backed his Democratic opponent.

Kirk has come under fire in recent weeks for moves in which he has moved toward the right in trying to secure the votes of core GOP conservatives for the Feb. 2 U.S. Senate primary. Though several Republicans are in the primary field, conservative opposition has not coalesced around an alternative candidates.

NARAL’s Keenan accused Kirk of moving “to the radical right” and said her group was committed to “defeat Mark Kirk’s Senate campaign.”

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/11/abortion-rights-group-senate-candidate-kirk-spar-on-vote.html