Copyright 1999 The Hartford Courant Company
THE
HARTFORD COURANT
May 19, 1999 Wednesday, STATEWIDE
SECTION: Pg. A17
LENGTH: 860
words
HEADLINE: PILL BILL, PARTIAL-BIRTH
ABORTION: A SAGA ALL ABOUT WOMEN
BYLINE:
Michele Jacklin
Michele Jacklin is The Courant's political columnist.
BODY:
Finally, we can put to rest the nagging
question about whether electing women to public office makes a difference when
it comes to public policy.
It does, and it did, as demonstrated in last
week's House votes on the pill bill and partial-birth
abortions. Never mind that most of the legislators quoted in news media
accounts were men. That's largely a function of men tending to talk louder and
longer than women, and of the mostly male Capitol press corps gravitating to
people they feel comfortable with.
But don't be misled by the baritone
voices and receding hairlines in the radio and TV clips of the proceedings. The
bill requiring insurance companies to pay for prescription contraceptives would
not have passed overwhelmingly, as it turned out if not for the personal
intervention and negotiating skills of two women: House Speaker Moira K. Lyons
and Deputy Majority Leader Denise M. Merrill.
Indeed, the proposal might
not have been taken up at all if not for the growing presence of female
legislators and lobbyists, who have elbowed their way to the table, struggling
to build awareness of, and support for, women's health care issues.
Sure, women have held roughly a quarter of the House and Senate seats in
Connecticut over the last two decades. But until recently, men monopolized the
leadership posts, including the all-important chairmanships of the budget,
tax-writing and judiciary committees. Men controlled the agendas. Men reviewed
the bills. Men went out drinking with lobbyists after hours. And when the
governor and the leaders got together to hash out key bills, who was in the
room? A hint: It's a three-letter word that begins with M.
But the times
they are a-changing, here and across the country.
In the latest issue of
"State Legislatures," author Rich Jones writes that as more women are elected to
high office, new leadership styles are emerging.
"Women legislators
often say that they are more concerned about how their decisions will affect
different kinds of people," Jones said. "They tend to be more compassionate and
empathetic with voters, less confrontational and more consensus oriented. They
say they are also more interested in issues directly affecting people than in
abstract ideas."
Jones' analysis explains why two hugely controversial
issues the pill bill and partial-birth abortions were debated last Thursday in
an atmosphere free of rancor. Lyons created a climate in which abortion
supporters and opponents could rationally discuss an issue that ordinarily has
both sides clawing each other's eyes out.
Last year, the pill bill died
on the House calendar when pro-life lawmakers threatened to turn the debate into
a referendum on abortion. Lyons, who was then majority leader, tried to broker a
deal so that the pill bill would be voted on unencumbered by amendments. But
abortion-rights activists didn't want to risk having a partial-birth abortion
ban pass or having legislators vote on an explosive issue in an election year.
They told Lyons to forget about it.
This year, using her new authority
as House speaker, Lyons decided to try again. She met one-on-one with abortion
foes, Democrat and Republican. She offered them a compromise: They would have an
opportunity to fully and openly discuss partial-birth abortions (the first such
debate on any abortion-related legislation since Roe vs. Wade was enshrined in
state law in 1990) but it could not be part of the pill bill.
Merrill
helped mobilize support among Democrats, and Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell pitched in with
Republicans, including the chamber's most ardent abortion foe, Republican Peter
Nystrom of Norwich.
It was agreed that Nystrom would be allowed to
attach a provision to the pill bill that allows individuals with religious or
moral objections to birth control to "opt out" of his or her company's insurance
plan. And it was agreed that a full-blown debate on partial-birth abortions
would take place but it would take place separate and apart from the
contraceptives bill.
Lyons "was under intense pressure from the
pro-abortion lobby not to have this come forward," said Democratic Rep. Michael
Jarjura, a pro-lifer from Waterbury. "She was able to accommodate both [sides],
much to her credit and her leadership."
The 86-57 rejection of the
partial-birth abortion proposal was surprising for its lopsidedness. The measure
would have banned abortions where a live fetus is partially vaginally delivered,
creating a new Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Three factors led to its defeat. Connecticut already prohibits the
abortion of a viable fetus except when necessary to preserve the health or save
the life of the mother. Virtually no partial-birth abortion ban in any other
state has survived a court challenge. And pro-choice legislators view the
measure as the first step in stripping away a woman's constitutionally
guaranteed right to an abortion.
Lyons did what she had to do. As
speaker, she presided over a vigorous but dignified debate. As one of 151 House
members, she cast her vote for the ban. She won the respect of the chamber even
though the measure went down in flames.
LOAD-DATE: May 21, 1999
