Led by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA),
anti-choice activists failed to coax a veto-proof margin of victory for
their unconstitutional "partial-birth abortion"
ban. Despite court decisions in nearly 20 states finding such laws
unconstitutional, the U.S. Senate bowed to the pressures of anti-choice
extremists and passed the "partial-birth abortion" ban for the third time
since 1995 (63-34.) Supporters of women's constitutional right to choose
abortion garnered two votes from new members of the Senate.
This vote indicates how out of step and out of touch the Senate is with
the American people and with the American legal system. President Clinton
has indicated he will veto the legislation.
"We congratulate those Senators who have rejected this
unconstitutional, deceptive, and extreme effort to deny women access to
safe and legal abortions. This scheme to undermine Roe v. Wade exposes how
the anti-choice majority willingly sacrifices women's health and lives,
and undermines the American constitution," said Janet Benshoof,
president of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, lead counsel in
14 challenges to "partial-birth abortion" bans.
Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit -
in the first ruling by a federal appellate court - found "partial-birth
abortion" laws similar to the proposal passed by the Senate to be
unconstitutional. Judges have said with near unanimity that, in fact, the
definition of "partial-birth abortion" includes almost all commonly
performed abortion procedures.
