Rudy Giuliani's campaign is fighting to defend the mayor on abortion today at National Review, but the opposition is coming from the editors of NR themselves.

After Giuliani said last week that abortion is a constitutional right and as such must be publicly funded, NR's editors said his position "makes neither logical, moral, nor political sense." In response today, Giuilani adviser Bill Simon responded in a letter that first cited Univ. of Alabama professor Michael New's claim that abortions in NYC under Giuilani declined at a rate greater than the national average at the time. Simon goes on to reiterate Giuliani's opposition to changing the Hyde Amendment which prohibits federal funding of abortions (except in cases of incest, rape or danger to the mother's life). Finally, Simon pledges that Giuilani would appoint "strict-constructionist judges who will follow in the philosophical footsteps of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Scalia, and Chief Justice Roberts" if elected president.

The editors had a stinging comeback:

Like Bill Simon, we admire Professor New. Let's quote him some more on abortion trends during Giuliani's mayoral terms: "I cannot attribute this decline to any actual policy Giuliani implemented." Note also that New York City's abortion rate had a long way to fall: Even after its decline, it remained much higher than the national average. Should Mayor Giuliani get credit for that fact as well?

To follow in the footsteps of Justices Scalia and Thomas, any "strict constructionist" would have to be willing to discard Roe. Giuliani has (gratuitously) noted that, in his view, keeping Roe on the books is perfectly compatible with strict constructionism.

Mr. Simon says that Mayor Giuliani "respects" his views. Does Simon's pro-life commitment amount to a desire to put pregnant women in jail? If not, perhaps he should advise the mayor to stop representing that policy as the pro-life position.

Finally, we have never doubted that Rudolph Giuliani achieved great things as mayor. We said so during his time in office, and we said so again when he announced his candidacy. On abortion, however, Giuliani and his campaign need to engage in less spin and more thinking.

It's one thing to be so thoroughly rebuked and quite another to have it done on one of the most-widely read and respected publications on the right. It's clear that the Giuliani team will need to do more to secure the mayor's footing among pro-lifers (without appearing to cave to them) and to get more help from conservative supporters like Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).