Harris decries charge he is 100 percent anti-abortion

A campaign letter charging that state House candidate David Harris does not support allowing victims of rape or incest to have abortions is a misrepresentation of his position, Harris says.

Harris, a former state legislator, and current legislator Mark Walker are running for the 66th state House seat in the Nov. 2 general election.

The letter from Personal PAC urging support of Walker, the Democratic incumbent, said Harris "would vote for a law to make abortion illegal in Illinois, even in cases of rape and incest. No exceptions."

Harris, a Republican, said in an e-mail to the Daily Herald it has always been his position to "oppose abortion EXCEPT in cases of reported rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

"I do recognize those exceptions," Harris wrote.

The candidate called the Personal PAC statement "a downright untruth" and said "It is too bad that my opposition and his allies have taken to such a low road of campaigning."

Terry Cosgrove, chief executive officer of the Chicago-based Personal PAC, said the evidence is in 1989 votes Harris made during his decade in the Illinois House.

He is referring to bills which failed to pass that would have allowed a man who claimed to be the father of a fetus to seek an injunction against a woman's planned abortion.

The original proposed bill required he first prove he is the father. It also allowed the court to consider the rights and interests of the unborn child "to the extent legally permissible."

During the debate to amend a later bill to achieve the same results, the bill's sponsor, the late Bernard Pedersen of Palatine, defended the fact that this right could also apply to a rapist. He said the rapist could also seek an injunction, but that doesn't mean the judge would grant one.

Harris voted yes on the bills, he said in an interview, because he believes the father of an unborn child should have a say in what happens.

He called the Personal PAC stand "bogus."

"A life or a pregnancy is the result of a man and a woman," he said. "The father should at least have the opportunity to have an interest in what is happening to the unborn child. It doesn't say a woman can't have an abortion."

The bills failed because even strong opponents of abortion did not feel they could vote for them, said Cosgrove.

The bills did not get the required 60 votes, but Harris noted 50 people voted for the first bill, 56 for the second one.

Cosgrove said abortion rights supporters worked against Harris in the 1992 Republican primary when he lost to Carolyn Krause.

"His record is his record," said Cosgrove. "He is 100 percent anti-choice."

Harris said Personal PAC is painting other Republican candidates the same way.