Congressional Clashes Near on Major Pro-Life Issues

Congressional Clashes Are Underway
On Major Pro-Life Issues

WASHINGTON (originally posted April 6, 2005; latest update August 31, 2005) – Major clashes on vital pro-life issues will occur in Congress during the months immediately ahead.

Already, during March, Congress passed legislation dealing with the landmark case of Terri Schindler Schiavo, and may consider further legislation dealing with the rights of incapacitated persons during the months ahead.

The spring and summer months also are likely to see intense activity on a number of other critical issues, which are summarized below.

Filibusters on judges

For the latest developments regarding the effort to end filibusters by Senate Democrats against President Bush's judicial nominees, click here.

Abortion Overseas

On April 5, the Senate conducted its first clear-cut abortion vote of the year, narrowly adopting an amendment offered by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.) that, if enacted, would restore federal funding to organizations that promote abortion in foreign nations.

Boxer’s amendment, adopted 52-46 as an amendment to the foreign aid authorization bill, would overturn President Bush’s pro-life “Mexico City Policy.” That policy cut off U.S. foreign aid funds to private organizations that “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning” in foreign nations. (To see the roll call vote, click here.)

President Bush has made it clear that he would veto any bill that overturns this policy. But the Boxer Amendment is unlikely to even reach the President’s desk, since a majority of the House of Representatives supports the Mexico City Policy. The pro-abortion provision is likely to be dropped in a House-Senate conference committee.

The Senate breakdown on the “Mexico City” issue was expected. The Senate passed a similar amendment offered by Boxer two years ago, and every returning senator on April 5 voted the same way as in 2003. However, due to pro-life gains in the November 2004 election, this time Boxer got three fewer votes.

“The pro-abortion win on the foreign aid issue, although no surprise, is a reminder that neither the pro-life nor the pro-abortion side has an automatic majority in the new Senate,” commented NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. “Some key issues are likely to be determined by very small margins.”

Human Cloning

On March 8, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a declaration urging all member nations to enact bans on all forms of human cloning.

Pro-life members of Congress have been trying to do just that since 2001, with the backing of NRLC and many other groups. On March 17, 2005, the NRLC-backed Human Cloning Prohibition Act was re-introduced by Senators Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) as S. 658, and by Congressmen Dave Weldon (R-Fl.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mi.) in the House as H.R. 1357. These bills would prohibit the creation of human embryos by cloning for any purpose.

In 2001 and again in 2003, the House of Representatives passed the Weldon-Stupak bill. However, there was insufficient support to win approval of the Brownback-Landrieu companion bill in the Senate.

Many of the pro-cloning senators have rallied behind counter-legislation sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), referred to by pro-life groups as “the clone and kill bill.” The Hatch-Feinstein bill would allow human embryos to be created by cloning, and penalize anyone who allows such an embryo to develop past the 14th day.

During the 2003-04 Congress, neither the Brownback-Landrieu bill nor the Hatch-Feinstein bill had enough votes to overcome procedural obstacles, resulting in a protracted stalemate. This standoff has amounted to a tactical win for the pro-cloning forces, since in the absence of a federal law banning human cloning, it remains legal in most states. However, researchers in the U.S. apparently have not yet overcome technical problems that have prevented them from creating human embryos by cloning.

Polls have shown lopsided opposition to the creation of human embryos for research. For example, an International Communications Research poll (August 13-17, 2004) asked, “Should scientists be allowed to use human cloning to create a supply of human embryos to be destroyed in medical research?,” to which 80% of a national sample said “no.”

For more information regarding human cloning and other issues pertaining to human embryos, click here.

ACTION ITEM: Urge your federal representatives to support a ban on human cloning (S. 658, H.R. 1357) by calling their offices through the Capitol Switchboard (202-224-3121), or click here to send them appropriate e-mail messages.

For an always-current list of cosponsors of S. 658 (currently 29), click here. For an always-current list of cosponsors of H.R. 1357 (currently 109), click here.

Funding embryo-killing research

On May 24, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 810, a bill that would mandate federal funding of stem cell research that requires killing human embryos. The research would use human embryos created at in vitro fertilization clinics and donated by their parents.

President Bush has said that he will veto this bill if it reaches his desk. The current focus on this issue is in the U.S. Senate, which may take up H.R. 810 and other legislation dealing with human embryos in September. To take action on this issue, click here.

Parental Notification

The Child Custody Protection Act, sponsored by Senator John Ensign (R-Nv.), would make it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion if this deprives her parents of their right to be involved under state law.

This bill was placed on a list of ten top priorities of the Senate Republican leadership under the number S. 8. On February 16, the same bill was re-introduced as S. 403 as part of a procedure by which it was placed directly on the Senate calendar. This means that the bill is now ripe for Senate floor action.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.) has indicated that he intends to take up this bill soon, although the Senate Democratic leadership is already raising procedural obstacles.

“It is remarkable that the Senate Democratic leadership is throwing up procedural obstacles to this parental notification bill, despite poll after poll showing 75 percent or more of the public supports requiring parental notification,” commented NRLC’s Douglas Johnson.

In the House, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has introduced the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) (H.R. 748). This bill incorporates all of the language of the Child Custody Protection Act, and it also includes a more expansive new section that requires an abortionist to notify a parent before performing an abortion on an out-of-state minor.

On March 3, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by pro-life Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), held a public hearing on the CIANA. (Read the powerful testimony in support of the bill by Marcia Carroll of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, here.)

The U.S. House of Representatives on April 27 passed the CIANA, 270-157. For a detailed report, click here.

Polls show very strong public support for parental notification legislation.

For example, when the Quinnipiac University Poll asked 1,534 registered voters in early March, “Do you favor or oppose requiring parental notification before a minor could get an abortion?,” 75% said “favor” and only 18% said “oppose.”

For more information on issues pertaining to parental notification, click here.

ACTION ITEM: Urge your federal representatives to support the parental notification legislation, the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 403) and the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) (H.R. 748) by calling their offices through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or click here to send them appropriate e-mail messages through the NRLC Legislative Action Center.

For an always-current lists of cosponsors of S. 8 (currently 37), click here. For an always-current list of cosponsors of H.R. 748 (currently 109), click here.

Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act

One top prospect for legislative action this year is the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, sponsored by Senator Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). The bill would require any abortionist to provide specified information to any woman seeking an abortion at 20 weeks or later, regarding the pain that would be inflicted on the baby, and to obtain a signed form accepting or rejecting administration of pain-relieving drugs to the baby.

A national poll in November by Wirthlin Worldwide described this legislation and found 75% in support, including 51% strongly in favor. Only 18% opposed the legislation.

For more information on this issue, see the NRLC website section on “The Pain of the Unborn.”

ACTION ITEM: Urge your federal representatives to support the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (S. 51, H.R. 356) by calling their offices through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or by click here to send them appropriate e-mail messages through the NRLC Legislative Action Center.

For an always-current list of cosponsors of S. 51 (currently 34), click here.
For an always-current list of cosponsors of H.R. 356 (currently 112), click here.

RU-486

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) have introduced the NRLC-backed RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (S. 511, H.R. 1079), which would withdraw federal approval for marketing of the RU-486 abortion pill, unless the Comptroller General found that the approval was originally granted, during the Clinton Administration, in accordance with proper statutory procedures.

ACTION ITEM: Urge your federal representatives to support the RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (S. 511, H.R. 1079) by calling their offices through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or by sending them e-mail messages through the NRLC Legislative Action Center, here.

Up-to-Date Congressional Information
and Congressional Scorecards
on NRLC Website “Legislative Action Center”

In order to help pro-life lobbying efforts in Congress, use your computer to frequently visit the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org.

The website features a Legislative Action Center that provides up-to-date alerts and background information on pro-life issues under consideration in Congress. The Legislative Action Center includes easy-to-use tools for sending timely e-mail messages to your federal representatives in support of specific pro-life legislative goals, and provides guidance on other things you can do locally to advance pro-life legislation.

The Legislative Action Center also includes always-current listings of which members of Congress have cosponsored major pro-life and anti-life bills. In addition, you can refer to complete NRLC “scorecards” on the voting records of members of Congress from 1997 through 2005.

To see the House scorecard-to-date for 2005, click here. To see the Senate scorecard-to-date for 2005, click here.

New congressional votes are added to the scorecards soon after they occur, and they are also published in NRL News.