Van de Kamp Accused of Hiding Data on Plan’s Alleged Abortion Rights Threat

SACRAMENTO â€”  Backers of a proposed anti-crime initiative charged Friday that Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp is hiding documents that relate to his conclusion that the measure could be used to abolish abortion rights.

Four legislators said at a Capitol news conference that they suspect that the documents Van de Kamp refuses to disclose show he is really playing politics and that his assertion that the initiative could be used to repeal California’s legal protection for women seeking an abortion is not legally sound.

Richard Martland, one of Van de Kamp’s top aides, said afterward that the attorney general will continue to keep the documents confidential, even though the four lawmakers said they will file a lawsuit next week to force their disclosure.

The news conference was the latest salvo in a political skirmish over the proposed crime victims justice reform act, for which signatures are being gathered to place it on the June, 1990, ballot.

The battle is laden with implications for next year’s campaign for governor.

It is backed by U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, the only Republican candidate, who hopes it will boost his campaign. It is endorsed by former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who is running against Van de Kamp for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Days after Feinstein announced her support for the initiative, Van de Kamp said he feared a provision in it restricting the right of privacy could cause the state Supreme Court to repeal abortion rights, which in California are protected largely by a 1972 constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to privacy.

He asked Wilson, who like Feinstein and Van de Kamp is pro-choice, to pull the initiative from circulation and redraft it.

Wilson and other backers of the measure refused. They contend that its language is clear that it applies only to criminal defendants.

The four lawmakers who held the news conference are Republican Sens. John Seymour and Ed Royce, both of Anaheim; Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco), and Sen. Daniel Boatwright (D-Concord).

Documents Demanded

Seymour and Royce back Wilson, Boatwright has endorsed Feinstein and Kopp said he expects to sit out the governor’s race next year.

They said they have demanded that Van de Kamp release documents drafted in his office relating to the initiative and showing the process he used to reach his conclusion. They contend that the document should be public under the California Public Records Act.

Van de Kamp has given them a list of 70 documents, several relating to the abortion issue, but refuses to release them.

Martland said the documents are confidential because lawyers working for Van de Kamp are allowed to advise him confidentially.

The lawmakers said they believe that the documents will show that Van de Kamp was advised by his aides that the initiative would not affect abortion rights.

Earlier this week, Sen. Barry Keene (D-Benicia) tried to get a procedural waiver in the Senate to allow consideration of a second anti-crime amendment. Keene’s proposal is similar to the one supported by Wilson and Feinstein, but it did not have the controversial language objected to by Van de Kamp.

The Senate, however, refused to give the amendment the green light, with Republicans arguing that the measure was only an attempt to embarrass Wilson and subvert the measure.