Congress Set to Vote on Major Pro-Life Issues

By NRLC Federal Legislative Office Staff

WASHINGTON (July 6) - - The U.S. House of Representatives is about to enter an unusually intense period of activity on major pro-life issues, with several key votes scheduled before the end of July. The Senate also may vote on some important right-to-life issues during July.

Most members of both houses will then depart Washington to spend most of August and early September back in their home districts, preparing for the fast-approaching November 3 congressional elections.

The current status of the hottest legislative issues is summarized below.

Child Custody Protection Act

On June 23, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Child Custody Protection Act (CCPA) (HR 3682) on a party-line vote. This bill, sponsored by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.), would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion, if this circumvents a state law requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision.

Pro-abortion members of the Judiciary Committee offered 19 amendments to weaken or destroy the bill, but all harmful amendments were rejected on party-line votes, with Republicans opposing the damaging amendments and Democrats supporting them.

The full House will vote on the Child Custody Protection Act on Wednesday, July 15.

The timetable for Senate action is unclear, but the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the measure on July 9. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mi.), the chief sponsor of the Senate version of the bill (S. 1645), is a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Ms.) said in May that he hoped to send President Clinton the bill this summer. If this is to happen, the Senate must act in late July, because of the recess during August and early September.

On June 17, White House Chief of Staff Erskine B. Bowles issued a letter saying that the Clinton Administration "strongly opposes the bill" in its current form. The letter demanded, among other changes, that the bill be amended to give "close family members" such as "grandmothers, aunts, and . . . siblings" the same rights as parents.

NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson commented, "Apparently President Clinton believes that a mother-in-law or aunt should be able to take a child to a different state for a secret abortion, while the parent is kept in the dark."

Susan Muskett, an attorney and NRLC policy analyst who has worked extensively on the legislation, said, "This legislation will help parents protect their young daughters at a time when they may be especially vulnerable to harmful manipulation by much older males."

On June 24, the Justice Department sent House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Il.) an 11-page letter criticizing the bill on various policy and constitutional grounds. However, neither that letter nor the earlier Bowles letter explicitly threatened a veto of the bill.

Partial-Birth Abortion
The battle over partial-birth abortions, which in recent months has been waged primarily in various state legislatures and federal courts, will return to the halls of Congress during the weeks and months ahead.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on July 23 on whether to override President Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (HR 1122). The Senate is expected to vote on the same issue soon after Labor Day (September 7).

The President vetoed the bill last October. The House and Senate votes on whether to override the veto have been delayed in order to allow pro-life groups more time to educate the public about partial-birth abortions and increase pressure on the Senate to override the veto.

In the House, pro-life forces expect to muster the necessary two-thirds vote, since the House last year approved the bill by a vote of 296-132 - - ten votes over a two-thirds majority. (See Oct. 21, 1997, NRL News, page 22.) But the Senate roll call passing the bill was 64-36 - - three votes short of the necessary two-thirds margin. (See May 23, 1997, NRL News, page 27.) So far, no senator has publicly announced that he or she is changing her position.

Lethal Drugs for Suicide
On Tuesday, July 13, 1998, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Representative Charles T. Canady (R-Fl.), will hold hearings on the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 1998, H.R. 4006. The bill, sponsored by Henry Hyde (R-Il.) and James Oberstar (D-Mn.), would prevent the use of federally controlled narcotics and other dangerous drugs to assist suicide. Subcommittee and then full committee action in both the House Commerce and Judiciary Committees is expected to follow promptly, and there may be a vote on the House floor in late July or the first week of August.

"Campaign Reform"
The House is expected to vote in late July or early August on the Shays-Meehan Amendment, a proposal that would severely restrict the right of private citizen groups, including NRLC and NRLC affiliates, to educate the public regarding the positions and voting records of federal politicians. This is the same as the McCain-Feingold "campaign reform" bill that was blocked in the Senate earlier this year.

During June, the House conducted on-again, off-again debate on the Shays-Meehan proposal. The House will resume intermittent action on the bill on July 14, with a final vote expected before August 7. Various amendments to the Shays-Meehan measure will be considered before the final vote.

The Shays-Meehan legislation is strongly opposed by NRLC and by many other pro-life and pro-family groups, including the Christian Coalition and the Family Research Council. (See Action Request, back cover.) Among House members, Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tx.) is leading opposition to the bill.

Chemical Abortions
On June 24, the House went on record for the first time in opposition to approval of chemical methods of abortion, such as the RU 486 abortion pill.

By a vote of 223 to 202, the House approved an NRLC-backed amendment offered by pro-life Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) to the Agriculture Appropriations bill (HR 4101), to prohibit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from spending federal funds "for the testing, development, or approval (including approval of production, manufacturing, or distribution) of any drug for the chemical inducement of abortion." (See House roll call, pages 28-29.)

The FDA is still one step from granting final approval for widespread use of the RU 486 abortion method, in part because those who control the U.S. marketing rights to the drug are having difficulty getting a manufacturer under contract.

(See "American RU 486 Study Results Released," May 7 NRL News, page 6.)

Coburn's amendment, if enacted into law, would prevent the FDA from approving RU 486 or any other drug for the specific purpose of inducing abortions.

However, Coburn said publicly that he does not expect his amendment to survive the rest of the legislative process on the agriculture bill. The Senate is believed to be less receptive to restricting FDA activity on such drugs, and President Clinton could be expected to use his veto to defend RU 486.

"This is about whether the federal government is going to spend money to figure out how to kill babies," Coburn, a physician who has delivered over 3,000 babies, told the House.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), who led opposition to the amendment, complained, "I am sick and tired of debating abortion on this floor in the House of Representatives. Restriction after restriction, ban after ban. Enough."

Insurance Mandate
The House may grapple in mid-July with another abortion-related issue that arises on the Treasury/Postal Appropriations bill (HR 4104). On June 17, the House Appropriations Committee added a provision authored by Rep. Lowey to require Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) plans to cover all prescription drugs and devices to "prevent pregnancy," including drugs that act to kill a human being during the first two weeks of his or her life. On June 24, NRLC sent a letter to House members urging the removal of the Lowey provision.

Foreign Aid
A stalemate continues between Congress and the White House over the Clinton Administration's use of the foreign aid program to promote abortion in developing nations.

Both houses of Congress have approved a State Department authorization bill (HR 1757) that contains NRLC-backed language, authored by pro-life Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), that would prohibit the Clinton Administration from funding organizations that campaign to repeal the pro-life laws in effect in most less-developed nations. In addition, the bill would cut off U.S. funding of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) because of that agency's participation in China's population-control program, which relies heavily on compulsory abortion. (See May 7 NRL News, page 21.)

The White House has said that a veto awaits the bill. However, pro-life Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so far has delayed sending the bill to the White House in the hope that the president will bow to increasing pressure to sign the bill from those who favor other provisions, especially that which authorizes payment of over $800 million in "dues" to the United Nations.

Helms has made it clear that if Clinton vetoes the bill with the pro-life provision, he can forget about getting the U.N. money in any other bill.

Military Bases
On June 25, the Senate rejected, 44-49, an amendment by pro-abortion Senator Patty Murray (R-Wa.) to repeal the law that bans abortions at U.S. military medical facilities (except to save the mother's life, or in cases of rape or incest). (See roll call, page 25.)

The House voted in May to retain the current pro-life policy, so the Senate vote essentially closes the issue for this year. (See House roll call, June 9 NRL News, page 20.)

For Further Information
For extensive further information on the issues discussed above, and other right-to-life matters under consideration in Congress, visit the NRLC Home Page on the World Wide Web. The address is www.nrlc.org. The NRLC home page contains a powerful search engine that can help you find specific information on the subjects in which you are interested.

To Assist NRLC's Lobbying Efforts
Please send a copy of any letter received from a Member of Congress on the pro-life issues discussed above, or any newspaper report that discusses a lawmaker's position on such issues, to the NRLC Federal Legislative Office, 419-Seventh Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20004, fax (202) 347-3668, e-mail: Legfederal@aol.com.