Posted on 12/09/2004 9:09:23 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's attorney general will sue the federal government to block a congressional restriction that could stall federal funds if the state enforces its abortion rights laws.
A provision in a $388 billion spending bill passed by the House and Senate last month would block any of the measure's money from going to federal, state or local agencies that act against health care providers and insurers because they don't provide abortions, make abortion referrals or cover them.
Rep. David Weldon, R-Fla., a doctor who inserted the provision, said the measure will prevent health care providers who oppose abortion from being forced to assist in ending pregnancies. He and other supporters contend it is merely a variation on a decades-old prohibition on spending federal money on most abortions.
But Attorney General Bill Lockyer said California could be among the most affected because it has some of the most sweeping laws protecting women's right to an abortion, along with a privacy guarantee written into the state Constitution. One state law, for instance, bars hospitals from refusing to perform abortions for women in emergency or life-threatening situations.
Lockyer called the provision "an unacceptable attack on women's rights and state sovereignty, and a backdoor attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade."
California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, are among the measure's outspoken opponents, saying it will prevent women from being told of all their options. All three endorsed Lockyer's announcement Wednesday, as did Planned Parenthood.
The state could lose its share of federal money earmarked for education, labor, health and human services programs.
A team of state lawyers is drafting the lawsuit, which Lockyer said will be filed within weeks if Bush signs the legislation as expected.
The suit will ask a federal judge to declare the provision invalid and prohibit its enforcement on the grounds that the financial penalties are so severe they unconstitutionally violate state sovereignty.
Randy Thomasson, the president of the Campaign for Children and Families, defended the Congressional measure, saying it gave doctors a "right to choose."
"Instead of behaving like a lawyer for the wealthy abortion groups, Lockyer should immediately draft legislation to conform California to the new federal law," Thomasson said. "California doesn't have to lose any federal funds."
Lockyer acknowledged the courts have generally upheld Congress' right to restrict how states use federal money.
But he plans to argue the Weldon amendment is more sweeping and coercive than restrictions previously allowed by the courts: It would block all the money to the entire state or local government that violates the provision, and the abortion rights question has nothing to do with education, labor and other funds that would be blocked.
Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has long required an exemption in abortion restrictions for pregnancies that could harm the mother, Lockyer noted, an exception missing from the Weldon amendment.
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On the Net:
Attorney general's office: www.ag.ca.gov
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ca/story/11705484p-12594220c.html
He plans to sue, saying new law puts women's rights at risk.
By Margaret Talev -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, December 9, 2004 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer plans to file a lawsuit to block an anti-abortion rights provision in the federal spending bill signed Wednesday by President Bush, saying the provision asks the state to disregard its constitutional protections for women or risk losing billions of federal dollars for school, health care and labor programs. In a statement released shortly before Bush signed the $388 billion spending bill, Lockyer said he has assembled a team of attorneys to study the full implications of the amendment sponsored by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., and that it may take weeks before a lawsuit is filed in federal court.
Lockyer and abortion-rights advocates say the Weldon amendment could effectively shield religious-based hospitals and clinics, managed care companies, and individual doctors or counselors who oppose abortion rights from having to comply with requirements now in state law that they provide the procedure or make referrals in certain circumstances.
If state or local governments sought to deny contracts or funding or to fine such groups for failing to provide abortion services, the federal government could, in turn, withhold federal funding.
Mike Spence, vice president for the California ProLife Council, said the state exerts too much say over private providers.
What would you expect from Beelzebub (Lockyer) and the Demoniacs (Boxer, Feinstein and Pelosi).
The only thing worse than legalized abortion is when the taxpayers are forced to pay for it.
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Well go ahead and seceed from the Union already. That's what happened last time their was this much diversity when it came to how to view human beings.
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