Chester County Democratic Committee

pa2010.com, 12/1/09

Democrat Manan Trivedi’s campaign on Tuesday hit back against primary opponent Doug Pike for suggesting in a pa2010.com op-ed that Pike is the only “publicly pro-choice” candidate in the race. The spat was the first public flare up in a 6th District primary that could grow more contentious in the months to come.

In a statement, the campaign stated explicitly that Trivedi, an Iraq War veteran and Reading doctor, is pro-choice. It went on to point out an 1990 op-ed Pike wrote for The Inquirer, in which [he] wrote of a former state lawmaker: “I support a woman’s right to an abortion—and the re-election of a zealous opponent of abortion.”

“[Former state Representative Stephen] Freind’s leadership and independence on other issues are more important than his crusade against the right to an abortion,” Pike wrote at the time.

Some Democratic insiders had wondered about Trivedi’s stance on abortion rights since it is not mentioned on the issues page of his campaign Web site. But people who have spoken with him describe Trivedi as adamantly pro-choice. And during a recent endorsement party in Malvern, while he did not directly take a stance on the Stupak amendment, the specific subject of Pike’s more recent op-ed, he railed against conservatives who disdain government intervention, “except when it comes to a woman’s body.”

The Trivedi campaign sought to clear up any confusion in its statement Tuesday.

“First we have the Doug Pike that endorses abortion ‘zealots’ and then we have the Doug Pike who boasts wildly that he is the lone public supporter of abortion rights,” campaign spokesperson Daren Berringer said. “While we don’t pretend to understand where Doug Pike really stands on this issue, two things are true: Doug Pike will write or say anything to get the public’s attention and Manan Trivedi is pro-choice.”