Republican Gains in Election Improve Prospects for Pro-Life Legislation

WASHINGTON (Nov. 12, 2002) -- The return of Republican majority control to the U.S. Senate substantially increases the prospects for winning enactment of some significant pieces of pro-life legislation during the 108th Congress, which will convene in January.

During most of the 107th Congress (2001-2002), Democrats held majority control of the U.S. Senate by a one-seat margin. The Democratic Majority Leader, Tom Daschle (SD), prevented Senate votes on five major pro-life bills that were approved by the House of Representatives and supported by President Bush.

In the November 5 general election, Republicans achieved a net gain of two seats in the Senate, ensuring at least a one-seat Republican majority when the new Congress convenes in January. The Republicans increased the margin by which they control the House of Representatives, and pro-life strength in the House also increased slightly.

In addition, pro-abortion Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu must face pro-life Republican Suzanne Terrell in a December 7 runoff election in Louisiana. If Terrell wins, the Republicans will have a two-seat majority, and the pro-life side will gain an additional vote.

The biggest immediate effect of the change in party control is to replace pro-abortion Democrats with pro-life Republicans in most key Senate leadership positions.

By far the most important position is that of majority leader, which will be assumed by pro-life Senator Trent Lott (R-Ms.). The majority leader has broad powers to set the agenda for the Senate, and to obstruct legislation which he opposes.

Senator Lott has already indicated that in the new Congress he intends to ensure Senate action on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Prior to the 2000 election, President Clinton vetoed that legislation twice, and pro-life forces were unable to override those vetoes in the Senate. In 2002, the House passed the ban again, but Daschle refused to allow the Senate to vote on it.

"We will move the partial-birth abortion bill through," Lott said in an interview with American Family Radio. "I will call it up, we will pass it, and the president will sign it. I'm making that commitment -- you can write it down."

The change in party control also improves the chances for future Senate votes on other key pro-life bills passed by the House but blocked by Daschle during 2002, such as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act. (For details on these bills, see "Democrat-Controlled U.S. Senate Kills Pro-Life Bills," October NRL News, page 12, or visit the Legislative Action Center at www.nrlc.org.)

Pro-life legislation will still face formidable obstacles in the Senate, however. Under Senate rules, it is often necessary to muster 60 votes -- not just 51 -- in order to pass controversial legislation. The election brought a net gain of two pro-life votes (with the Louisiana seat still to be determined), but at least 53 of the 100 members of the new Senate are on record in support of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion on demand.

The most recent abortion-related Senate roll call occurred on June 21, 2002, when the Senate voted 52-40 in favor of an amendment to the defense authorization bill, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.), to repeal a law that bans most abortions in military medical facilities. If absent senators had voted, the tally probably would have been 53-47 in support of the pro-abortion amendment. In the new Senate, the roll call on this issue would be exceedingly close.

Cloning Ban

The prospects for enactment of legislation to ban all human cloning remain cloudy.

In 2001, the House passed a bill to ban the cloning of human embryos, but even with gains in the election, the anti-cloning forces may not yet have the 60 votes necessary to end any pro-cloning filibuster that may develop.

Likewise, senators who favor pro-cloning legislation backed by the biotechnology industry -- legislation that would allow the cloning of embryos but forbid their survival past two weeks of age -- also lack the votes to pass such a "clone and kill" bill. In addition, such legislation is opposed by the majority in the House and by the Bush Administration.

President Bush has repeatedly urged the Senate to pass legislation, sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), to ban the cloning of human embryos. On November 6, the day after the election, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer listed the ban on human cloning as one example of the bills which the President supported that had died because of Senate inaction.

Judicial Nominees

The new chairman of the crucial Senate Judiciary Committee will be Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Hatch, a longtime critic of Roe v. Wade, has been a strong supporter of President Bush's conservative nominees to federal courts -- many of whom have been blocked by outgoing chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee.

The Democrats were able to block nominees in committee because they had a 10 to 9 majority on the committee. That ratio will now be reversed.

The Democrats exercised the maximum degree of obstructionism on nominations to the 13 federal courts of appeals. These courts, which are only one level below the U.S. Supreme Court, are the last word in most cases, since the Supreme Court accepts only about one percent of the cases appealed to it.

President Bush has already indicated that he may renominate two nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Charles Pickering and Priscilla Owen, both of whom were rejected by Judiciary Committee Democrats on party-line votes during 2002. In each case, the nominees were strongly opposed by pro-abortion advocacy groups.

Republican control means that it will be far more difficult to routinely block confirmation of President Bush's future judicial nominations. However, a battle royale is still anticipated if President Bush has an opportunity to make an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court during the next two years.

Other Senate Leadership

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), chaired by pro-abortion Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Ma.), will now be chaired by pro-life Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH). The committee's jurisdiction includes federal health and medical research programs.

U.S. ratification of a pro-abortion international convention, the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), became less likely, with pro-life Senator Richard Lugar (R-In.) set to take over the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Under outgoing pro-abortion chairman Senator Joseph Biden (D-De.), the committee recommended Senate ratification on July 30, but Lugar voted against it. (See "Senators May Vote on Pro-Abortion Treaty," August NRL News, pages 14-15.) In order for the treaty to be ratified, it would have to again win approval in the committee, and then from two-thirds of the full Senate, which seems unlikely.

There are a few instances in which Republican majority control will not produce pro-life leadership.

For example, the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee will pass from pro-abortion Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) to pro-abortion Senator Ted Stevens (R-Ak.). And the chair of the important Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services will pass from pro-abortion Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to pro-abortion Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.); the two are among the most zealous advocates of cloning human embryos.

However, pro-life senators will take over the chairs of some key Appropriations subcommittees, and it appears that pro-life senators will serve in greater numbers on the full committee, which has been tilted toward the pro-abortion side in recent years.

House Leadership

In the 435-member House of Representatives, the Republicans have had majority control since 1995, but recently the Republican leadership had been working with a narrow six-seat majority. It appears that the Republicans will have six additional seats when the new Congress convenes in January, with 229 likely members of the Republican caucus and 206 likely members of the Democratic caucus. A majority of the House is 218 if every member votes.

During the 2001-2002 Congress, the pro-life side won on every important face-off in the House, but some of the votes were close. The congressional redistricting process, which occurs every 10 years, eliminated about nine pro-life seats prior to the election. But those losses were more than compensated for on election night, with the pro-life side realizing a net gain of two to five House votes, depending on the issue. (See story on election results, page 15.)

Most key House majority leadership positions will continue to be held by pro-life lawmakers, including Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Il.), Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tx.), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wi.).

On the Democratic side, longtime minority leader Congressman Dick Gephardt (Mo.) announced after the election that he would not seek re-election to the leadership post. Gephardt has voted pro-abortion since the late 1980s, although he did vote to pass the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Gephardt's successor as the leader of House Democrats will be Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (Ca.), who has a solidly pro-abortion voting record.

Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), applauded Pelosi's elevation, saying, "Nancy Pelosi is a champion of women's rights, including the fundamental human right to make private childbearing decisions, and she has the courage to stand up to the Bush's administration's anti-choice agenda."

The number two Democratic leadership position will be taken over by Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a leading opponent of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Voting Records

As of November 11, 2002, during the 107th Congress (2001-2002), the full House had conducted 16 roll call votes "scored" by NRLC, and the Senate had conducted three such roll calls. All of these roll calls are compiled in the scorecard that appeared on pages 24-34 of the October issue of National Right to Life News. The same scorecard is also posted on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org, in the Legislative Action Center.

Complete House and Senate pro-life voting records for the 105th Congress (1997-98) and the 106th Congress (1999-2000) may also be viewed at the Legislative Action Center at www.nrlc.org.