On May 13 JivinJ posted a story in (Prolifer)ations on accusations against pro-life OR congressional candidate Mike Erickson by his opponent Kevin Mannix of paying for a girlfriend's abortion in 2000.

A couple items in follow-up.

First, Mannix's mailer implicated OR Right to Life as having endorsed Erickson. I received an email of clarification from Lois Anderson, political director of the ORRTL PAC:

Hi Jill,

Just to make sure you know. We have solely endorsed Kevin Mannix for CD 5 in 2008. Erickson was endorsed in 2006 before she came forward with her story.

Second, Erickson is now saying he didn't do it. From the Oregonian, today...

Speaking publicly for the first time... Republican congressional candidate Mike Erickson denied that he knowingly paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion.

He acknowledged dating a woman named Tawnya for "a couple of months" in 2000 and helping her with financial problems but said he was unaware she became pregnant or had the procedure.

"I never asked anybody in my life to have an abortion," Erickson said. "Did I pay for an abortion? Absolutely not."

Erickson... said... it was a casual relationship and that he could not remember her last name or where she lived.

One day she asked him for a ride to a doctor's appointment, he said. She also asked for financial help, and he gave her $300, he said, adding that their relationship soon ended.

The abortion charge surfaced in 2006.... Kristi Oetken, a friend of Tawnya, sent an e-mail to... media outlets claiming Erickson knew he had impregnated the woman and knowingly gave her money for an abortion. The allegations remain unsubstantiated....

On Monday, Mannix sent a letter disclosing the 2006 allegations to 60,000 Republican voters. He continued to press the allegations Thursday, this time with a letter sent to 36,000 Republican women who haven't voted.

The letter, from Gayle Atteberry, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, called on Erickson to withdraw from the race, accusing him of dishonesty both in seeking the organization's 2006 endorsement and in denying he had any role in Tawnya's alleged abortion....

"When we approached Mike about these allegations, he admitted giving her money and dropping her at a 'doctor's office.' He said he did not know she was getting an abortion," Atteberry wrote. "No matter where you stand on abortion, Mike's actions are troubling."

Oh, come on. He gave her $300 but didn't know why? He drove her to a doctor's office but didn't know what for?

And he doesn't even remember her name? Low blow, Mike. You just lost the women's vote.

[Photo credit: Mike Erickson for Congress]

I wrote in February that pro-aborts were raucously split in support of Clinton vs. Obama for president.

Ideologues like NOW (feminists 1st, abortion zealots 2nd) support Clinton. Hillary is a woman, and the presidency is their grail.

Pragmatics (abortion zeal and greed tied for 1st) support Obama. They expect him to do more to help the industry through government handouts, laws, and presidentially-overseen agencies.

So the NARAL board's May 14 announcement to endorse Obama is no surprise. The abortion industry funds NARAL. It's no dummy.

And the protest by feminist groups like EMILY's List is no surprise, nor defections of pocket NARAL affiliates, particularly NY, likely headed by rabid feminists.

Reported the New York Times, today...

The decision by a major abortion-rights group to endorse Senator Barack Obama has created an uproar among some of its affiliates and other abortion-rights advocates. Many said that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had as good a record on reproductive rights as Mr. Obama and that there was no need to take sides in the Democratic primary....

Clinton supporters in the blogosphere said they perceived it as a badly timed gratuitous slap at Mrs. Clinton as she grapples with the likely end of her quest for the presidency....

In making the Naral announcement, Nancy Keenan, the president, said Mr. Obama, who leads in the delegate count and could claim the nomination as early as Tuesday, was the more viable candidate. Ms. Keenan said it was important to make the announcement now because Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, who opposes abortion rights, was getting a "free ride."...

Elizabeth Shipp, political director of Naral... said there was a feeling that endorsing Mr. Obama at a high-profile juncture might help Naral shed its image as an organization for white women only....

Very interesting last line, a distancing from NOW.

NARAL has been trying to generate a swarm against McCain for some time in its email alerts, apparently to no avail. See a couple examples below. NARAL must finally have become exasperated that the clock is ticking and pro-aborts have yet to really begin hammering him.

This from the NYT's article is another indicator the abortion industry thinks Obama will be its sugar daddy:

... Obama... collected four more superdelegates on Thursday, including Representative Henry Waxman of California....

Waxman is the industry's go-to guy to push increased government funding of comprehensive sex ed and to terrorize pregnancy care centers.

[HT: LifeNews.com]

NARAL email alert March 31...

NARAL email alert April 18...