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Wednesday is
Halloween, and lawmakers are finding out that “trick
or treat” is not just for kids. Lobbyists are also
getting in on the act.
NARAL Pro-Choice
America, the nation’s leading abortion rights
advocacy group, sent out a fundraising letter pegged
to Oct. 31 that left us confused.
On Oct. 19, NARAL President Nancy Keenan wrote
supporters an ominous appeal warning them that, “On
October 31, Congress will decide whether to put an
end to George W. Bush’s devastating global gag
rule.”
The Reagan-era
rule, also known as the “Mexico City policy,”
has long been a source of controversy: It
prohibits the U.S. from funding family-planning
clinics that offer abortion counseling in other
countries.
But word that Congress would do anything to
decide the issue came as a surprise to Lynne
Weil, Democratic communications director for the
House Foreign Affairs Committee. The panel has
scheduled a hearing, but no vote, on the issue
for Wednesday.
NARAL’s fundraising letter also tells supporters
that if they send a contribution right away,
“we’ll send a moral compass to members of the
committee — Sen. [Norm] Coleman [R-Minn.], Sen.
[John] Sununu [R-N.H.], Rep. [Tim] Walberg [R-Mich.],
Rep. [Joe] Knollenberg [R-Mich.], and Rep.
[John] Doolittle [R-Calif.] — symbolizing your
hope they find their way back on this moral
choice.”
The problem is none of these lawmakers sit on
the Foreign Affairs Committee. Ted Miller,
NARAL’s communications director, said the letter
contained a simple “human error.” He said the
author had meant to write that the moral
compasses would go to members of Congress, not a
particular committee. When asked whether it was
accurate to inform supporters that Congress
would make a decision on the Mexico City policy
on Wednesday, Miller said he was not certain
when a vote would be scheduled on the matter.
Whether the letter was a trick or an honest
appeal for treats, Douglas Johnson, the
legislative director of the National Right to
Life Committee, was not amused.
“The solicitation is definitely misleading,”
said Johnson. “I can’t say whether it’s
deliberate deception or merely incompetence. The
whole letter is built on the Oct. 31 event and
they mention five members not on the committee.
It’s misleading from start to finish.”
Johnson also said he and his staff had checked
with the offices of the lawmakers mentioned in
the letter, and not one of them had reported
receiving a compass of any sort.
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