A senator from December 1994 to January 2003, Thompson voted along antiabortion lines, but his statements have occasionally raised questions about his attitude toward the cause.
On Fox News last month, he was asked why he checked a box on a questionnaire in his 1994 Senate campaign beside a statement saying that abortion "should be legal in all circumstances for the first three months."
"I don't remember that box," Thompson replied. "You know, it was a long time ago, and I don't know if I filled it out or my staff, based on what they thought my position was, filled it out."
The Tennessean newspaper reported that Thompson, when filling out a 1996 Christian Coalition survey, marked himself as "opposed" to a constitutional amendment protecting "the sanctity of human life."
The newspaper said he included a handwritten notation saying: "I do not believe abortion should be criminalized. This battle will be won in the hearts and souls of the American people."
In recent weeks, Thompson has described himself as fundamentally "pro-life," saying the issue has "meant a little more to me" since seeing the sonogram of his now-3-year-old daughter.
Best known for playing a district attorney on NBC's "Law and Order," Thompson worked as a part-time lobbyist over nearly three decades, both before and after his Senate service. His clients included a General Electric aircraft-engine maker, Westinghouse Electric Corp. and the Equitas insurance company.
DeSarno and others said the family planning group hired Thompson shortly after the Supreme Court upheld the "gag rule" in 1991.
That ruling led to a protracted tussle between Bush and Congress. The rule was eliminated in 1993 by President Clinton on his third day in office.
In addition to Barnes and DeSarno, three other people said they recalled Thompson lobbying against the rule on behalf of the family planning association.
Susan Cohen, a member of the association's board of directors in 1991, said in reference to DeSarno and Thompson: "We were looking, of course, for a Republican who might have some inroads to the White House at that time, and so that's how she came upon contacting him."
Said Bill Hamilton, who then directed the Washington office of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a group that was DeSarno's main ally in lobbying on the abortion counseling rule: "I definitely recall her reaching out to [Thompson] and engaging him in some way, and trying to squeeze the White House through him."
Sarah L. Szanton, who worked for DeSarno as director of government relations for the family planning association, agreed that Thompson "consulted on our behalf against the gag rule."
"I remember that he did it," Szanton said. "I just knew he was part of the good fight."
The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Assn. is a Washington nonprofit organization that represents family planning clinics and other groups. It advocates "reproductive freedom" and broad access to birth control.
michael.finnegan@latimes.com
