Democrats May Try Military Abortion Amendment Again

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 6/25/02 | Jeff Johnson

[kattracks]

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Pro-abortion Democrats in the House may try to force another vote on requiring U.S. military medical facilities to perform abortions. The effort could come as early as Wednesday, when the House may begin consideration of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2003.

Senate Democrats were able to pass an amendment by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) last week that would allow abortions to be performed at Department of Defense (DOD) medical installations both overseas and in the U.S.

Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt praised the vote.

"The Senate has taken a key step toward protecting the health and rights of servicewomen overseas who protect our freedom," she said. "This action begins the process of finally eliminating a discriminatory policy that prohibited these brave women from exercising their legally protected right to choose [abortion]."

Female U.S. military personnel are not, however, prohibited from obtaining abortions as Feldt claimed. The policy prohibits only the use of taxpayer funding, or the use of taxpayer funded facilities and equipment in the completion of an abortion.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) had proposed an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act similar to the one passed by the Senate, but the Sanchez amendment would only have applied to DOD medical facilities outside the United States. That proposal was defeated on May 10 by a vote of 215 to 202.

But Michael Schwartz, vice president of government relations for Concerned Women for America (CWA), says pro-abortion Democrats may still try to attach the amendment to the DOD appropriations measure to be considered as early as Wednesday.

"The Defense Authorization Bill, which has already been passed in the House, does not include latitude to commit abortions in military medical facilities," he pointed out. "But, if that prohibition is taken out, then it conceivably could be put into the appropriations bill and so we might see yet another vote on this."

Authorization bills are similar to a budget, creating individual programs and assigning the amount of money to be spent by each. Appropriations bills provide the actual funding to the "authorized" programs.

Schwartz warns that a House vote for the amendment might encourage pro-abortion lawmakers to try to remove the original prohibition in a conference committee.

"It's close in both houses," he explained. "The 52-40 number in the Senate is deceptively wide because probably all eight of the senators who were absent would have voted against the Murray amendment."

Schwartz says that, while President Bush has expressed his opposition to allowing abortions at DOD healthcare facilities, abortion supporters are not likely to give up easily.

"The present policy is likely to prevail," he predicted. "[But] we know that the abortion lobby is going to be making an all out push to make this change. They see this as a weak link and so they'll be pushing hard to get this approved."

A pro-life response is necessary, he said, to support the president's position.

"Unless there is countervailing pressure from pro-life citizens, the tidal wave could be too strong," he concluded. "This is very much in play."

The Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2003, which has not yet been assigned a bill number, is tentatively on the House calendar for Wednesday.

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[goldstategop]

Planned Parenthood's Gloria Feldt and her gang of baby killers now want to spread their destable abortion mills to the U.S military. They must be stopped.