DeVos' views on abortion are a mystery to voters
Detroit News
Laura Berman
July 22, 2006 DeVos' views on abortion are a mystery to voters
Dick DeVos has big plans and big ideas. The problem for the would-be voter is that he doesn't want to share some of them with you, at least not too specifically.
Case in point: this week's fracas over the Grand Rapids businessman/blogger/would-be governor's pro-life views. Yes, DeVos is pro-life. But then, who among us does not love and celebrate life? Can he be more specific? When reporters tried to pin down the Republican challenger more precisely on this topic, his spokesman got coy. "We're not going to get into parsing this a thousand different ways," John Truscott said, according to an Associated Press report. Asked if DeVos might support some exceptions for abortion in the case of rape or incest or the health of the mother, Truscott tried to shoo the question away. "Those have not been discussed," he said. "End of story." It's clear for Right to Life It would be the end of the story, if it were true. But DeVos is perfectly amenable to discussing his views on abortion with those who share his near-absolute position against it. Right to Life of Michigan, for example, has strict criteria for endorsing candidates, and the group isn't averse to "parsing" the issue. To get Right to Life's endorsement -- as DeVos did months ago -- a candidate must "be pro-life with no exceptions other than the life of the mother." Incest? Not an exception. Rape? Not an exception. Health of the mother? "Nope," says Larry Galmish, who heads the Grand Rapids-based group's political action committee. "When you get into health, you can make exceptions for a broken fingernail." But Galmish does say that "we endorsed Dick DeVos early and we found him to meet all the criteria we have. We have no questions," about his position on abortion. Galmish says DeVos also met the criteria opposing embryonic stem cell research. "I don't know why John Truscott didn't want to talk about it. But Dick DeVos talked to us," he said. Governor should be open DeVos filled out the group's extensive and "confidential" questionnaire, and submitted to a lengthy interview before getting an endorsement, Galmish said. In an effort to flesh out DeVos' views on a woman's right to choose abortion in some circumstances, Ellen Malcolm, who heads Emily's List, an influential pro-choice fundraising group for female Democratic candidates, wrote DeVos on Wednesday, challenging him to discuss the issue. "You can't buy the governor's office in Michigan. You have to earn it, and part of that is having an honest conversation with voters," says Malcolm, whose political action committee is supporting Gov. Jennifer Granholm's campaign. To her credit, Granholm has always been open about her views on abortion -- and twice vetoed restrictive legislation. I did catch up with John Truscott, the DeVos spokesman, who brought up the Right to Life endorsement but again didn't want to speak explicitly about abortion. To voters, that is. Incest? Rape? A pregnant woman's health? Details, details. You can reach Laura Berman at (248) 647-7221 or lberman@detnews.com.
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