(This is the second in a five-part weekly series examining issues in the 2000 presidential race.)
As the weeks before the November presidential election dwindle, Vice President Al Gore (D) and Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) are focusing on women's issues such as abortion in attempts to court female voters.
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While women voters usually are a Democratic Party stronghold, this election season they may prove to be the swing vote in what has turned into a very tight race. The latest CNN/Time Poll shows Bush at 47 percent and Gore at 45 percent. Similarly, the current Gallup poll shows Bush at 47 percent and Gore at 44 percent.
Bringing women's issues into the forefront, both candidates have taken stands on the newly approved RU-486 abortion pill, which allows women to have a drug-induced rather than surgical abortion.
Gore took the typical stance of a pro-choice Democrat coming out in support of the abortion pill.
"Gore is solidly pro-choice," said William Lutz, deputy director of communications for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, an organization that has endorsed Gore for the presidency since February 2000.
During the presidential debate last Tuesday at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Bush said he was disappointed in the FDA's decision to bring RU-486 into the United Sates because he felt it could lead to more abortions.
Bush also said that as president, he would not have the power to unilaterally overturn the FDA decision.
Pro-life organizations supported Bush and his stance on the RU-486 pill.
"We agree with Governor Bush's concern that the approval of RU-486 by the FDA may lead to more abortions," said Carol Tobias, spokesperson for the National Right to Life organization.
But some political analysts said they believe despite his statements, Bush failed to commit to any decisive plan of action against the abortion pill.
Bush's statements on RU-486 suggested that he did not plan to ban the p ill if he was in office, said Robert Holsworth, professor and chair of the department of international and public affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
By taking a "softer" view on abortion, Bush is distancing himself from the strict conservatism of the religious right, which wants decisive action taken against RU-486.
Bush "sent a message to the Christian right that I am not going too far down your road," Holsworth said.
But some political analysts believe that Bush does not have to worry about alienating the Christian right because the group has made it apparent that they will never vote for Gore.
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