Clark is cautious when asked his stance on abortion

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Retired Army General Wesley K. Clark, intent on staying on-message on a divisive national issue, yesterday stuck to a simple script when asked about his views on abortion.

At a contentious news conference yesterday morning, just after he gave a speech backing abortion rights at a Planned Parenthood of Northern New England event, Clark was asked repeatedly, in different ways, to state the specifics of his abortion stance.

Asked when, after conception, he thought life began, Clark said, "I stand with the established federal law, Roe v. Wade and Casey."

Clark was referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, handed down 31 years ago yesterday, that established a woman's right to abortion and a 1992 court decision that permitted states to impose limited restrictions on the procedure.

Asked which restrictions he supported, Clark said, "I support the established law, Roe v. Wade as modified by Casey."

Asked if he could explain the standards in the law, he said, "I'm not going to go into detail on Roe v. Wade and Casey."

Clark also declined to describe his personal views further. "I'm not going to get into a debate on viability," he said. "Viability is something that's determined by a doctor."

In an interview after the news conference, Clark press secretary Jamal Simmons said Clark was reluctant to elaborate because abortion is a complicated legal matter. Simmons said that Clark supports "a woman's right to choose" and that he would back a ban on late-term abortions if it carried an exception for a woman's health.

And in a televised debate last night, when pressed, Clark clarified what he meant: that a woman "has a right to choose pre-viability and after viability"; and that that right "can be constrained by the states but the health of the mother must be protected."

He also said: "No one is going to take away a woman's right to choose when I am president of the United States. It's that simple."

But publicly describing that position has posed a challenge for Clark during his first-ever run for public office.

The approach Clark used yesterday was strikingly different from the less guarded way he addressed the issue earlier this month, in an interview with the conservative-leaning editorial board of the Union Leader of Manchester.

At that time, Clark got into a far more detailed exchange with publisher Joseph W. McQuaid.

The Union Leader later printed a transcript of the interview, which was circulated by the Republican National Committee.

"Let's take an issue -- abortion. Are there any limits on it in your mind?" McQuaid asked Clark.

"I don't think you should get the law involved in abortion," Clark said at the time.

"Late-term abortions? No limits?" McQuaid asked.

"Nope," Clark said.

"Anything up to the head coming out of the womb?" McQuaid asked.

"I say that it's up to the woman and her doctor, her conscience, and the law -- not the law," Clark said.

Clark has also given different answers, in the past, about whether he would appoint only judges who back abortion rights.

Earlier this month, according to the Union Leader, he told a reporter for that newspaper that he had no litmus tests for judges, but then called the reporter back to clarify that he was "not going to be appointing judges who are pro-life."

Simmons said yesterday that Clark would only appoint judges who followed established legal precedents regarding abortions.