King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison has been taking political heat for refusing to discuss her views on abortion rights.

Now the issue of abortion rights has surfaced in the Seattle City Council Position 8 race, where Robert Rosencrantz, a two-time candidate and local landlord, is competing with Sierra Club leader Mike O'Brien for the seat being vacated by Richard McIver.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington has endorsed O'Brien. In a press release, NARAL calls into question Rosencrantz' views on abortion rights, saying in a statement:

"Here in Seattle, most candidates for city office are pro-choice, as is the case for every remaining candidate for Seattle City Council with the exception of one," said Lauren Simonds, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. "Robert Rosencrantz stands apart from the field as the only anti-choice contender for a seat on the council. That is why we took the step of endorsing his pro-choice opponent, Mike O'Brien."

But Rosencrantz says he supports a woman's right to choose to end her pregnancy. At issue are his views about parental notification (he thinks parents should be involved in a minor's decision to have an abortion) and the right of doctors, nurses and pharmacists to choose not to perform procedures they aren't comfortable with.

"I don't know of anywhere on ... the right to choose where my opponent and I differ," Rosencrantz said in an interview. "I respect state law and I assume he respects state law."

Rosencrantz was less clear on his King County Democrats questionnaire, where candidates were asked, "Do you support freedom of choice in contraception, abortion and sterilization?" and "Do you support public funding for abortions for poor women?"

He checked "qualified." To explain, he quoted President Obama in saying that government should do more to reduce the number of abortions and "honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion."

After the Democrats' questionnaire, Rosencrantz said he didn't even bother to seek a NARAL endorsement, knowing his views on abortion didn't go far enough.

Rosencrantz and O'Brien emerged from an eight-way contest for Position 8. Since the primary, Rosencrantz is one of the only candidates in town who's been able to raise a significant amount of money. He has raised $32,000 since the primary -- four times what O'Brien has raised.