Chalan Kanoa, Northern Mariana Islands, May 18, 2008 / 13:06 pm
Republican Bob Schaffer is hoping to capture a senate seat in Colorado, but his campaign has been dogged by accusations that he ignored forced abortions during a Northern Marianas Islands trip in 1999. According to diocesan officials in Chalan Kanoa, they have received no solid evidence that forced abortions had in fact occurred.
The controversy surrounding the 1999 visit first began last month when Colorado Right to Life accused Schaffer of turning a blind eye to reports that textile workers on the islands were being forced to have abortions.
Another pro-life group, American Right to Life Action, an offshoot of Colorado Right to Life, called on Schaffer to admit that he dismissed the allegations.
"The pro-life movement will no longer give a pass to candidates like Bob Schaffer who look the other way when Chinese women are forced to abort their children," Steve Curtis, the head of American Right to Life Action, said in mid-April.