New campaign issue: abortion

Abortion rights have suddenly become a campaign issue in the 56th District Democratic primary, even though the stances of both candidates aren't exactly diametrically opposed.

Personal PAC, an abortion rights advocacy group, has been campaigning to remove state Rep. Paul Froehlich from office -- though it's not endorsing his opponent, John Moynihan, either.

"He's a right-wing Republican," Personal PAC President Terry Cosgrove said of Froehlich, who switched to the Democratic Party last year. "This is about defeating an incumbent legislator who should not be returned to Springfield."

Froehlich said this prompted him to bring up the issues in his own campaign, though at least one registered Democrat called his tactics manipulative.

Leah Danoff of Hanover Park said Froehlich's campaign has called her home twice in the last week.

Danoff said a woman caller asked for her stance on abortion. When Danoff replied that she was pro-choice, she was told Moynihan was anti-abortion.

But she said she was given no information at all about Froehlich's position during the phone call.

"I thought this was a dirty tactic," she said. "I felt that I was being manipulated."

Froehlich said he couldn't speak to the exact nature of the phone calls being made on his behalf. But he said his campaign was forced to address the issue of abortion because of Personal PAC's mailings and phone calls against him.

Generally, both Froehlich and Moynihan oppose abortion, though both say they're committed to upholding the Constitution.

Moynihan, an attorney, said he recognizes Roe v. Wade is how the Constitution's position on abortion is interpreted, which trumps his own personal opinion.

He said if circumstances ever allowed abortion rights to revert to state control, he would support its prohibition except in the case of rape, incest or the mother's health.

Moynihan also supports laws that require minors seeking abortions to notify a parent or judge first. He would support waiving such notification for girls who are pregnant as a result of incest.

But in those cases, the onus would be on the doctor performing the abortion to report the incest to police.

Froehlich said his personal preference would be to not make exceptions to his anti-abortion stance in cases of rape or incest -- a key difference between his position and Moynihan's, as well as a main reason for Personal PAC's opposition of him.

"I personally think the unborn child is innocent and shouldn't be destroyed for the sins of the father," Froehlich said.

But he believes the political reality is that any state bill prohibiting abortion would include exceptions for rape and incest and said he would support such a bill.

As the father of three daughters, Froehlich said he's also in favor of parental notification laws and believes a majority of his constituents share that view.

While Moynihan disagrees with Froehlich about exceptions to an abortion ban, Moynihan said his immediate concern is what he believes are the Froehlich camp's attempts to confuse the issue.

"I think the reason people are disgusted with politics is that they never feel they're getting accurate information," Moynihan said.

Personal PAC's Cosgrove said that because of Moynihan's stances on abortion, the group is not endorsing the politician, though it is actively campaigning against Froehlich. Cosgrove said he believes Moynihan has more potential to be swayed on his position if he were elected.