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Hoeffel jabs Doherty, Onorato on abortion

HARRISBURG—When Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel said that “consistency” is important regarding one’s stance on abortion-rights, it was fairly obvious who he was taking a poke at: his gubernatorial opponents Dan Onorato and Chris Doherty.

“They have straddled the issue,” Hoeffel charged in an interview after making the remark during a debate between the Democratic candidates for governor here Friday night. “You have to take a stand for it or against it.”

Onorato, who has taken pains since launching his campaign to emphasize that he is only personally pro-life but would not change existing law, waved off the comments.

“I’ve been very consistent as to my views and what I would do as governor,” he said.

But Doherty, who aired his thoughts on abortion in a pa2010.com op-ed last year, said his position changed as he learned more.

“I’ve always been very honest about this,” he said. “When I became mayor, I got to see people’s personal choices and what they meant. I learned.”

Part of his evolution on the matter, he said, came from “being a parent, having three daughters, wondering what would happen if one of them got pregnant.” He added that “this was a very difficult decision” as a Roman Catholic.

January 29, 2010 at 11:15 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Chris Doherty, Dan Onorato, Joe Hoeffel

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