Giuliani: Abortion Not A Litmus Test

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Mayor Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate and a proponent of abortion rights, said yesterday that he would not use a judicial nominee's stand on the issue or the landmark Supreme Court decision as a litmus test.

On a campaign swing through conservative western Iowa, the former New York mayor pledged to appoint judges who would strictly interpret the Constitution on gun rights and other issues. Abortion never came up in his address to about 100 people at a high school, but it did during an exchange with reporters.

"Abortion is not a litmus test. Roe v. Wade is not a litmus test. No particular case is a litmus test. That's not the way to appoint Supreme Court justices or any judge," Mr. Giuliani said.

Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion.