Copyright 1999 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
May 7, 1999, Friday, CITY EDITION
SECTION: VIEWPOINTS, Pg. 3C
LENGTH: 243 words
HEADLINE:
BANKRUPTCY PROVISION IS NOT ABOUT ABORTION
BODY:
As representatives of the National
Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, we would like to respond to the
April 24 News editorial "Backwards on bankruptcy," which displayed a misguided
sense of blame.
The editorial faults Sen. Charles Schumer for serving up
the "poison pill" that would kill the bankruptcy-reform bill. Yet the Schumer
amendment seeks to stop behavior that The News itself describes as "outrageous."
What The News calls a "poison pill" is in fact, a simple, but tough
law-enforcement provision. The Schumer amendment would prevent defendants
convicted of abortion-clinic violence from declaring
bankruptcy to avoid paying penalties, fines and judgments
levied against them.
It would make debts resulting from acts of clinic
violence non-dischargeable under the Bankruptcy Code and prevent these criminals
from ducking the debts that result from their repeated and intentional
violations of the law.
Indeed, many of those who commit acts of violence
against clinics have expressly stated their intention to manipulate the
Bankruptcy Code for this very purpose.
The Schumer
provision is not about abortion. It is about the accountability
of criminals and enforcement of the law.
The assertion that it is
somehow "controversial" is merely an excuse for those whose zeal to halt the
actions of anti-abortion protectors is, shall we say, less than enthusiastic.
Kate Michelman, Kelli Conlin
Washington, D.C.
LOAD-DATE: May 9, 1999 
