Six months before the Iowa presidential caucuses, anti-abortion activists in the Republican Party are trying to adjust to a strikingly different political landscape. For the first time in more than a generation, they face, in former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York, a front-runner for the nomination who supports abortion rights.
"Pro-life" support is divided among several other candidates, including former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a relatively recent convert to the cause, and former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. And some strategists and outside analysts are voicing a theory that was once unthinkable in the Republican Party: That a convergence of forces - such as the early primaries in moderate states like California - may have diminished the influence of the anti-abortion movement on the Republican nominating process.
Anti-abortion leaders are increasingly moving to defend the seminal victory they first won in 1980 - the definition of the Republican Party as the "pro-life party" in its platform and its presidential nominees. Key leaders are signing on with the anti-abortion candidates they see as best able to go the distance. And some of those leaders are warning, bluntly, that the abortion issue is fundamental - not something to be finessed
Republican anti-abortion activists face possibility of setback
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