Senate Roll Calls On Partial-Birth Abortion Ban and Child Custody Protection Act

Shown below are recent U.S. Senate roll calls by which the Senate killed, for this year, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Child Custody Protection Act.

Both bills were supported by a majority of senators, but failed to achieve the supermajorities needed to advance.

The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 1122) was vetoed by President Clinton in October 1997. On July 23, 1998, the House of Representatives voted to override the veto, 296-132, ten votes more than the required two-thirds majority. (See August 12 NRL News, pages 30-31.) The issue then went to the Senate.

Column #1 below shows the September 18, 1998, Senate roll call on whether to override the veto (Senate roll call no. 277). Sixty-four (64) senators voted to override the veto, while 36 voted to sustain the veto - - a margin three votes short of the required two-thirds majority. Thus, the bill died for this year.

Fifty-one Republicans and 13 Democrats voted to enact the bill over President Clinton's objections. Four Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against the bill.

Column #2 shows the September 22, 1998, roll call by which a minority of senators blocked further action on the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 1645) (Senate roll call no. 282).

S. 1645 would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, if this circumvents a parent's right, under state law, to be involved in the minor's abortion decision. The House passed identical legislation (HR 3682) on July 15.

Although the bill is supported by a majority of senators, senior Democrats, led by Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (SD) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), insisted on the right to offer controversial non-germane "killer" amendments to the bill, dealing with issues such as gun control and health maintenance organizations. This is a tactic sometimes used in the Senate to obstruct legislation, and it can be particularly effective during the crush of business in the closing weeks of a session.

In an attempt to overcome this obstructionism, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Ms.) and chief bill sponsor Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mi.) attempted to "invoke cloture." If successful, this motion - - which requires the votes of 60 of the 100 senators - - would have eliminated unrelated amendments, while permitting up to 30 hours of debate on germane amendments.

In a September 21 letter to the Senate, NRLC noted, "Invocation of cloture is necessary to pass the bill. A vote against cloture amounts to a vote to kill the bill, and will be so reported in NRLC's scorecard of key right-to-life votes of the 105th Congress."

The September 22 attempt to invoke cloture failed, 54 to 45 - - six votes short of the necessary 60 votes - - effectively killing the legislation for this year. Sen. Abraham announced that he would revive the bill early next year.

For further details on the Senate's action on HR 1122 and S. 1645, please see the story that begins on page one of this issue.

KEY

X Pro-life vote
0 Pro-abortion vote
? Absent or not voting

Alabama 1 2
Shelby R (R) XX
Sessions J (R) XX

Alaska
Stevens T (R XX
Murkowski F (R)XX

Arizona
McCain J (R) XX
Kyl J (R) XX

Arkansas
Bumpers D (D) OO
Hutchinson T (R) XX

California
Feinstein D (D) O O
Boxer B (D) O O

Colorado
Campbell B (R) X X
Allard W (R) X X

Connecticut
Dodd C (D) O O
Lieberman J (D) O O

Delaware
Roth W (R) X X
Biden J (D) X O

Florida
Graham B (D) O O
Mack C (R) X X

Georgia
Coverdell P (R) X X
Cleland M (D) O O

HawaiiI
nouye D (D) O O
Akaka D (D) O O

Idaho
Craig L (R) X X
Kempthorne D (R) X X

Illinois
Moseley-Braun C (D) O O
Durbin R (D) O O

Indiana
Lugar R (R) X X
Coats D (R) X X

Iowa
Grassley C (R) X X
Harkin T (D) O O

Kansas
Brownback S (R) X X
Roberts P (R) X X

Kentucky
Ford W (D) X O
McConnell M (R) X X

Louisiana
Breaux J (D) X O
Landrieu M (D) X O

Maine
Snowe O (R) O X
Collins S (R) O X

Maryland
Sarbanes P (D) O O
Mikulski B (D) O O

Massachusetts
Kennedy E (D) O O
Kerry J (D) O O

Michigan
Levin C (D) O O
Abraham S (R) X X

Minnesota
Wellstone P (D) O O
Grams R (R) X X

Mississippi
Cochran T (R) X X
Lott T (R) X X

Missouri
Bond C (R) X X
Ashcroft J (R) X X

Montana
Baucus M (D) O O
Burns C (R) X X

Nebraska
Kerrey B (D) O O
Hagel C (R) X X

Nevada
Reid H (D) X X
Bryan R (D) O O

New Hampshire
Smith R (R) X X
Gregg J (R) X X

New Jersey
Lautenberg F (D) O O
Torricelli R (D) O O

New Mexico
Domenici P (R) X X
Bingaman J (D) O O

New York
Moynihan D (D) X O
D'Amato A (R) X X

North Carolina
Helms J (R) X X
Faircloth L (R) X X

North Dakota
Conrad K (D) X O
Dorgan B (D) X O

Ohio
Glenn J (D) O ?
DeWine M (R) X X

Oklahoma
Nickles D (R) X X
Inhofe J (R) X X

Oregon
Wyden R (D) O O
Smith G (R) X X

Pennsylvania
Specter A (R) X O
Santorum R (R) X X

Rhode Island
Chafee J (R) O O
Reed J (D) O O

South Carolina
Thurmond S (R) X X
Hollings E (D) X X

South Dakota
Daschle T (D) X O
Johnson T (D) X O

Tennessee
Thompson F (R) X X
Frist B (R) X X

Texas
Gramm P (R) X X
Hutchison K (R) X X

Utah
Hatch O (R) X X
Bennett R (R) X X

Vermont
Leahy P (D) X O
Jeffords J (R) O O

Virginia
Warner J (R) X X
Robb C (D) O O

Washington
Gorton S (R) X X
Murray P (D) O O

West Virginia
Byrd R (D) X O
Rockefeller J (D) O O

Wisconsin
Kohl H (D) O O
Feingold R (D) O O

Wyoming
Thomas C (R) X X
Enzi M (R) X X