Pro-Life
Amendments Blocked by Democratic
Leadership
Part Two of Two
Editor's note.
The following summary and
explanation was issued by the
office of pro-life champion
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ).
Congressman
Chris Smith was blocked from
offering two pro-life,
pro-child, pro-women amendments
to the huge $410 billion FY2009
Omnibus spending bill considered
on the House floor Wednesday.
Smith had
testified before the Democrat
House Rules Committee and
notified them of his two
pro-life amendments, but the
Rules Committee issued a closed
rule that barred either
amendment from even being
brought to the House floor to be
considered or voted upon.
Smith's first
amendment would restore the
prolife "Mexico City Policy,"
rescinded by Obama in his first
week of office. Announced in
1984, the policy prohibits U.S.
taxpayer money to fund groups
that promote or perform abortion
in other countries, while
allowing other family planning
activities.
"As a direct,
absolutely predictable
consequence of President Obama's
Abortion Export Order a few
weeks ago nullifying the Mexico
City Policy the number of
innocent children forced to die
from dismemberment,
decapitation, or chemical
poisoning by abortion will
increase significantly, mostly
in Africa and Latin America,"
said Smith.
"The
pro-abortion organizations who
will divvy up the $545 million
pot of U.S. taxpayer grant money
contained in today's Omnibus
bill have made it abundantly
clear that they will
aggressively promote, lobby,
litigate and perform abortion on
demand in developing countries.
My amendment would have
prevented that from pushing
abortions as a method of family
planning."
Smith pointed
out that the American people do
not want their taxpayer dollars
going to promote and perform
abortion overseas.
"According to
a Gallup poll released earlier
this month, overturning this
pro-life policy was the least
popular of the President's
actions in his first week in
office. In fact 58% of those
polled opposed overturning the
policy and only 35% supported
funding groups that promote or
provide abortion as a method of
family planning," he said. "Why
not let the American people be
heard on this issue?"
Smith's second
amendment would have corrected a
provision of the bill that would
guarantee U.S. funding for the
U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA),
even if that agency continues to
participate in China's coercive
population control program. The
bill language effectively
exempts the UNFPA from the
requirements of the Kemp-Kasten
anti-coercion law, which denies
funding to organizations that
support programs of coercive
abortion or involuntary
sterilization.
"The UN
Population Fund has actively
supported, co-managed, and
white-washed the most pervasive
crimes against women in human
history," said Smith who held
twenty six hearing on human
rights in China as the former
House chairman of the Human
Rights committee.
"China's
one-child-per-couple policy
relies on pervasive, coerced
abortion, involuntary
sterilization, ruinous fines in
amounts up to ten times the
salary of both parents,
imprisonment, and job loss or
demotion to achieve its quotas.
"And through it all, throughout
the past three decades, the UN
Population Fund has remained
China's chief apologist as well
as population control program
trainer, facilitator and funder.
"This bill
gives them $50 million and a
slap on the wrist," he said.
In closing Smith reprimanded the
Democrat leadership for its
response to this horrific human
rights abuse to Chinese women,
children and the family.
"So, how does
Congress respond to the UNFPA's
complicity in China's crimes
against women?" Smith asked. "Do
we demand reform and protection
of Chinese women and children?
"Heck no. We
gut the anti-coercion law and
write a $50 million check to the
UNFPA."
Please send
your thoughts on to
daveandrusko@gmail.com
Part One
--
Caught on the Horns of a
Dilemma |