European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday june .3 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Tom Wicker supreme court rulings could Hurt Bush gop a supreme court majority mostly put in place by presidents Reagan and Bush has dealt a Clear setback to Haub pressed american women and families. It May therefore have signalled trouble for the president and the Republican party. In rust is. Sullivan the court1 voted 5 -4 to uphold Federal regulations barring federally funded family planning clinics from giving women information about abortion. Since most of the women who seek help from such clinics Are poor they will suffer real a even if Legal a disc rim in at join. Women who eat afford it May continue to receive abortion information from private doctors. Many women who will be deprived of that help Are members of poor families where both Mother and father. Need to work. Not just these women therefore but their husbands and children will be. Adversely affected by the courts decision. Its hard to see any policy justification in the ruling much less the regulations either in pure economic terms or at a time when so Many unwed and teen age mothers have become a National social problem. Those regulations were formulated and enforced moreover in the Republican administrations of presidents Reagan and Bush. The supreme court majority that upheld them a save for Justice Byron White a Kennedy appointee a was appointed by the same two presidents chief Justice Rehnquist having been elevated to that seat by Reagan. The decisive fifth vote was provided by Bush a recent Choice David Souter. There can be no doubt therefore which party is most if not entirely responsible for this blow to the Well being of american women and families a hence to the Well being of the entire nation. Whatever hostile political reaction there May be will surely work against the republicans and Bush if As expected he seeks re election next year. As other abortion cases come before the court the laser beam of political attention will remain on Bush a Man Justice Souter. If he continues to follow the direction he took in rust is. Sullivan that will bring further heat on Bush from those who believe in abortion rights. Those forces already Are making known that they expect now to seek from Congress legislation overturning the rust Arnold Sawislak ruling and other action to strengthen the so called pro Choice position. If any such legislation should pass in the democratic Congress a a distinct possibility a Bush will come under severe pressure to veto  again party and presidential responsibility would be Clear. On top of All this at next years Republican National convention in Houston delegates will have to decide whether to leave in or take out of their 1992 platform the explicit language calling for an end to abortion rights that the convention approved in 1988. A All republicans Are by no Means opposed to abortion so this promises a televised floor fight a which whatever the outcome will offend millions of americans. Whether a majority of Likely voters nationwide favors or opposes abortion is not entirely Clear. And it s not Likely anyway that All who feel strongly about the matter one Way or the other would East their votes solely on that Issue. But because of the cited possibilities the likelihood seems Strong that enough americans might react against Bush and his party next year to damage them politically a and perhaps severely. Aside from its of acct on abortion rights the rust is. Sullivan ruling May have other unwelcome consequences. A the court basically upheld the right of the Federal government to make regulations governing people and organizations to whom it provides Federal Money a a a a lot of people and organizations. I hat five Man conservative majority continued the proposition that if the government pays the government can control. Will the Bush administration now decide a a or find itself under conservative pressure to decide a to use  an Hority to set operating rules Lor say research laboratories it supports with Money or to bar certain kinds of people irom working in federally funded institutions a already a Congress led by democrats has imposed Content restrictions on the work of artists who receive Federal Grams. The practice could be extended to other areas and by any government. Political Power Seldom stops at the party line. C the now Yolk tini03democrats just can t Stop living in the past a t a a a. In Case you missed if George Mcgovern announced last month that he will not run again Tor . President in 1992. A the 1972 democratic candidate said he still has something to contribute to the discussion of Public issues Thario one else seems Likely to talk about. But he is not sure whether he Quot would be taken seriously or dismissed As a has  and admirers of the 7former South Dakota senator were relieved that he decided not to run again for none of the reasons lie cited in bowing out Mcgovern said before his announcement that he believed it is about time for a resurgence of liberalism in politics a piece of Wishful thinking that beautifully illustrates Why the democrats can t be Baek to the White House. Mcgovern offered the voters a specific Liberal vision 19 years ago and they turned him Down resoundingly. He has not hacked away from his beliefs since he lost the presidential election and his Senate seat eight years later and there is no reason to believe that the voters in 1992 would give a different verdict than they Didin 1972. A a a a t that is More than a guess. The democratic party has lost every presidential election save one since 1908 Tor a reason. It simple cannot seem to understand that it never will be Able to reconstitute the powerful coalition of voters  Franklin d. Roosevelt Lour Titues and 1 Larry Truman once Between 1932 and 1948 by a cause the. Groups that went into it no longer exist to tire form or size they did then. _ for won because he brought together a collection if widely disparate groups that All Felt they were being. Victimized by the establishment which happened to be Republican a v7 a factory workers. Thrown out of work by Quot the depression and denied the right to unionize without retribution they flocked to for s Promise of indic trial Justice and economic recovery. But after world War ii a lot of them achieved middie class status and embraced conservative politics. A Farmers. Strangled by speculators and middlemen even when crops were Good they were ready to revolt they got some income stability from the new Deal but this vote was Cut Down by the huge country to cily migration after 1950. A a City dwellers. Most big cities were already democratic and for was willing to do business with the Bosses. They Are gone now and conservative suburbs outvoted the Liberal cities. 1 a minorities the new Deal promised to fight rampant discrimination and even the Odds Lor Blacks jews and others kept out by Law and custom. They mostly basically conserva tit remain Loyal to Tok s heirs. A the great Middle class. Americans who. Had Jost everything in the Dpi Exsior. Blamed Wall Street greed and ruthless Bankers. I i h pledged to bring the Quot malefactors of great wealth Quot u Heel. This Pivotal group regained much of its feeling o Prosperity Al ten world War ii and i churned to ils Etc i roots. Tile republicans took the presidency away from tin. Democrats by convincing a the Middle class that tin. Party of for no longer represented Plain honest de cent people but spoke Tor groups that either Wai Itei welfare handouts or foetal revolution lire one Linn. New Deal Democrat Ronald Reagan was a perfect example of the people w to embraced this idea. _ my a Overn and every other democratic candidate since l972 except Jimmy Carter were unable to quasi that image imposed on them by the  still can to. The opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the y news of the stars and stripes or the United states government