ILLINOIS is one of the states being watched in the 1984 elections by a major "pro-choice" group: the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). The group is hoping the general elections in November will mean victories for congressional candidates who share its views on abortion.

"We want to move this issue to the back burner," NARAL Executive Director Nanette Falkenberg said in sizing up midwestern races. "We want to move it from a political issue back to where it belongs, a private choice. Election of a pro-choice president and some senators would help that." NARAL describes the November elections in the broadest terms. It believes there will be two or three Supreme Court appointments in the coming four years and wants to make sure the decisionmaking on nominees is in the right hands.

The political action committee of NARAL donated $1,000 to Sen. Charles H. Percy for his Republican primary contest with Congressman Tom Corcoran. Falkenberg said Percy has "always been a strong supporter" of pro-choice issues. Falkenberg also said favorable things about Congressman Paul Simon, campaigning for the Democratic Senate nomination. She said Simon had "issued a strong statement on funding and a woman's right to choose." A couple of months earlier, she had said state Senate President Phil Rock and Hinsdale attorney Alex Seith were both "anti-choice." The Simon statement that Falkenberg mentioned was released in December. It said Simon supported the 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion and that "this fundamental right to privacy in reproductive choice must not be diminished." It also said the southern Illinoisan would support "efforts to provide funds for poor women to facilitate their free choice in reproductive matters."

Going into the primary election season, NARAL was optimistic that "pro-choice" candidates will be successful. Falkenberg said the 1982 elections indicated an end to the perception that voters supported only anti-abortion candidates.

Although Falkenberg said the Supreme Court decision appeared safe from attack, at least for the moment, she said anti-abortion groups were putting a new emphasis on trying to limit the use of public funds and the access of teenagers to abortions. That is a description that fits "squeal" laws generally requiring physicians to notify parents if their teenage daughters seek abortions. (Illinois' new squeal law is on hold in federal courts.)

Freshman scores

Rep. Lane Evans, whose western Illinois district includes the Quad City area, is gaining some notoriety. He was the top Democrat in the House when the Congressional Quarterly measured support or opposition to President Reagan. Evans, a freshman Democrat, scored a 90 percent opposition rating on the 82 votes that CQ counted.

"He's been voting for what he thinks is the best interests of his constituents," an Evans spokesman said, and many of Reagan's plans are "inimical" to what they want. The spokesman said Evans was not surprised at the score. Evans also was an early and consistent critic of keeping U.S. troops in Lebanon. He disagreed when the House approved the 18-month limit and filed a resolution for a "prompt and orderly withdrawal" the day after the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut. At one point, Evans was asked how Speaker Thomas O'Neill treated his objections. "He knows who I am," Evans said.

Percy and Corcoran

That same CQ survey gave Percy an 80 percent rating for supporting Reagan. That is slightly above the average of 73 percent for Republican senators. Corcoran had a support rating of 70 percent — exactly the average for GOP representatives. CQ cautions that its figures are only rough indicators. The support-opposition figures are based on issues where there was a clear presidential stand. The magazine also said some issues may have required several votes while others were settled on one roll call.

Convention Chair Michel

House Republican Leader Bob Michel has been a member of the House since 1956, but he has an unusual description of how he is preparing for this year's elections. "We've been functioning like a freshman or sophomore," Michel told one inquirer, meaning plenty of trips back to his central Illinois district and plenty of efforts to make it clear what he is accomplishing for his constituents.

Michel also is looking forward to the role of being chairman of the Republican National Convention. That is a job that traditionally goes to the party's leader in the House.

42/March 1984/Illinois Issues