| health centers
|
 A weekly report on public policy issues in Washington, the states, and the world.  Senate Passes So-Called "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban With Votes To Sustain A Veto Senator Harkin's "Sense Of Congress Concerning Roe v. Wade" Appropriations Bills: Where Are They Now? PPFA President Sends Clarion Call In San Francisco Federal Judge Declares Idaho's So-Called "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban Unconstitutional Kentucky Legislator Planning To Introduce Fetal And Pharmacist Protection Bills Chicago Area Hospital Group's New Abortion Policy Pleases No One Michigan Lawmakers Want to Exclude Abortion Coverage From Private Insurance Planned Parenthood Clinic In South Dakota Damaged By Bomb Resources | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Senate Passes So-Called "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban With Votes To Sustain A Veto On October 21st, the Senate voted 63-34 for S. 1692, the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act." (editor's note – the bill number given in last week's newsletter was wrong.) Of the three senators who did not vote, only Sen. John Chafee (R-RI) opposes the bill, so this year supporters have gained a vote and are only two votes shy of a successful veto override. The two days of "debate" were often ugly, with Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), the bill's sponsor, and other supporters calling doctors who perform abortions, "executioners." They also repeatedly questioned whether the women who have so bravely told the stories of their need to abort wanted pregnancies using methods that would be outlawed by this law really needed to abort their pregnancies. They kept insisting that abortion, and especially so-called "partial birth" abortion, was responsible for the killings at Columbine High School. Sen. Bob Smith (I-NH) brought out a poster to describe the "dirty little secret" about so-called "partial birth" abortions. He alleged that at Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions a "harvester" hides in a back room, "to take her baby, cut it into pieces and sell it." He insisted that abortion providers support so-called "partial birth" abortions because these abortions provide the most usable parts to sell for research. Smith gave this speech verbatim twice, once on Wednesday evening and again on Thursday afternoon. Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR), in her remarks on the Senate floor, criticized S. 1692. She supported an amendment offered by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) that would have prohibited post-viability abortions except in cases of life endangerment or severe threat to a woman's physical health, and required a second doctor's certification of this health threat. However, the Senate tabled this amendment by a vote of 61-38, and Lincoln went on to vote voted for S. 1692. During the debate, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) offered a "Sense of the Senate" resolution reaffirming the importance of the Roe v. Wade decision and declaring that it was "appropriate," "constitutional" and should not be overturned. This resolution passed by the narrowest of margins, 51-47. It is important because it is the first up or down vote the U.S. Senate has ever taken on Roe and clearly identifies senators who do not support the right to choose. For instance, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who continues to allege that she is pro-choice while never voting positively on any choice issue, voted both to table Harkin's amendment and, when the motion to table failed, voted against the resolution. President Clinton has promised to again veto the bill, and the veto override attempt will take place next year, in the heat of a presidential and congressional election campaign. Note: Courts have held almost unanimously that state laws similar to the federal bill would ban common first and second trimester abortion procedures. Senator Harkin's "Sense Of Congress Concerning Roe v. Wade" "(a) Findings: Congress finds that--
NAY: (pro) 34
AYE: (anti) 63
NOT VOTING — Chafee Gregg Mack Vote On Harkin Amendment YEAS-(pro-choice)-51
NAYS-(anti-choice)-47
NOT VOTING — Gregg McCain PLEASE BE SURE TO THANK THOSE SENATORS WHO VOTED FOR HARKIN & AGAINST SANTORUM. Appropriations Bills: Where Are They Now? The House continues to be unable to reach an agreement on funding levels and offsets in the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. It now appears that it will be attached to the District of Columbia Appropriations bill (which already has been vetoed once and the reworked version is still unacceptable to the Administration) and will be voted on next week. The President also vetoed the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. It now appears that this bill will end up in the end-of-the-session Omnibus Appropriations bill. PPFA President Sends Clarion Call In San Francisco On October 19th, PPFA President Gloria Feldt spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. With that speech, she unveiled the Federation's Responsible Choices® 2000 Platform. She outlined the pro-choice majority's challenges and goals in the upcoming election year. The Responsible Choices 2000 Platform is a bipartisan initiative that seeks to ensure that a pro-choice agenda is a top priority for those seeking to be elected on November 7, 2000. Feldt told her audience that the central planks of the Responsible Choices 2000 Platform are: access to family planning services and equity in insurance coverage for contraception for all Americans, including the poor and uninsured; medically accurate sexuality education; funding for international family planning; and focusing 'conscience' provisions for health care providers and facilities on the conscience of the patient." The speech was a strong reaffirmation of the Responsible Choices Action Agenda. It also was a clear reminder of what is at stake in the elections of November 2000, and the hard but necessary work that faces those who support the goals of the Responsible Choices Action Agenda during the next year.  State Legislative Update Federal Judge Declares Idaho's So-Called "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban Unconstitutional On October 15th, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill declared Idaho's so-called "partial birth" abortion ban law unconstitutional. Winmill's decision held that, "The act bans the safest and most common method of abortion used in Idaho and, therefore, imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy." The decision also said that the law unconstitutionally imposed parental and spousal consent requirements on a woman's right to obtain an abortion because it gave the husband and/or parents of the pregnant woman the right to sue a physician for performing an abortion. The law was passed in 1998, and Judge Winmill issued a restraining order in March of that year, shortly after Gov. Phil Batt (R) signed it. According to a report from the Associated Press, Deputy State Attorney General David High said the decision will not be appealed because, "The decisions around the country indicate this is the way the courts are viewing this. We're not going to waste taxpayers money on it." Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and PPFA's Public Policy Litigation and Law represented PP of Idaho and two providers from the state. Kentucky Legislator Planning To Introduce Fetal And Pharmacist Protection Bills At the behest of anti-abortion groups in Kentucky, state Sen. Elizabeth Tori (R) has drafted a bill she intends to introduce in the 2000 legislative session that would seek to give fetuses separate rights in assault cases. According to a story in the October 17th edition of the Lexington Herald Leader, she told the annual convention of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, "It needs to be considered a capital offense if a baby is killed before they're [sic] born. If the pregnant woman is harmed, then the criminal is just as guilty of harming one as two." Additionally, the article reports that state Rep. Joe Fischer will introduce a bill that will protect pharmacists and other health professionals who refuse to provide women with such things as emergency contraception or drugs that induce abortion such as mifepristone. A similar bill was introduced in the 1999 legislative session. Chicago Area Hospital Group's New Abortion Policy Pleases No One Advocate Health Care is a church-affiliated hospital corporation with headquarters in Oak Brook, IL and eight hospitals in the Chicago metropolitan area. The corporation decided to allow abortions under only limited circumstances and at only two of its facilities. Abortions will be allowed in cases of rape or incest, or if the fetus is suffering from such severe birth defects that it could not be expected to survive for more than a few minutes if it survived the birth process at all. The policy is set to go into effect by January 1, 2000, but may be implemented earlier at some hospitals. Pro-choice forces argue that even though the services are available at other facilities in the area, women shouldn't be forced to search around for a facility to obtain a needed health service. A story in the October 14th edition of the Chicago Sun-Times reports the mid-west regional director of NARAL saying, "They're health care providers, and they're refusing to provide a service guaranteed under the Constitution to all women. It's outrageous that 20 or 30 people in a boardroom are making choices for women facing an unplanned pregnancy. This is their way to curtail access to abortion services." Anti-choice forces aren't satisfied either. The Sun-Times story also quotes Pro-Life Action League executive director, Joe Scheidler as calling the policy a "sop." "They're throwing us a bone." Michigan Lawmakers Want to Exclude Abortion Coverage From Private Insurances Michigan state Rep. Laruen Hager (R) has introduced legislation that would prohibit the state's Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies from including abortion coverage in their policies without a separate rider. Similar legislation has been introduced to cover Health Maintenance Organizations and commercial health insurance companies. According to a story in the October 14th edition of The Grand Rapids Press, Hager said, "If abortion is a matter of choice, shouldn't people who want abortion coverage choose it? Rep. Mark Jansen (R) who introduced the bill covering HMOs said, "You do have a choice. If you feel strongly about having an abortion, you will have that choice and, by the way, you will pay for it." At a hearing before Michigan's House Insurance and Financial Services Committee last week, a representative of Blue Cross and Blue Shield testified that employers who want to offer insurance plans without abortion coverage can opt for a rider that excludes the service and cuts the cost of the policy. She said that currently, opting out of providing abortions cuts the cost of a policy by about 11 cents. About 4.5 million Michigan residents are covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Planned Parenthood Clinic In South Dakota Damaged By Bomb At the behest of anti-abortion groups in Kentucky, state Sen. Elizabeth Tori (R) has drafted a bill she intends to introduce in the 2000 legislative session that would seek to give fetuses separate rights in assault cases. According to a story in the October 17th edition of the Lexington Herald Leader, she told the annual convention of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, "It needs to be considered a capital offense if a baby is killed before they're [sic] born. If the pregnant woman is harmed, then the criminal is just as guilty of harming one as two." Additionally, the article reports that state Rep. Joe Fischer will introduce a bill that will protect pharmacists and other health professionals who refuse to provide women with such things as emergency contraception or drugs that induce abortion such as mifepristone. A similar bill was introduced in the 1999 legislative session. Resources Dos And Don'ts Hot Off The Press The 1999 edition of "Do's and Don'ts for Public Affairs Activities During An Election Campaign: a Guide for Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) Organizations" has been mailed to affiliate CEOs and state public affairs directors. This is a helpful guide to staying out of legal trouble during election season. Limited additional copies are available. If you need any, please contact Steven Molina by cc:Mail or calling 212-261-4329. phone: 202/785-3351 fax: 202/293-4349 email: jane.baldinger@ppfa.org Published by the Public Affairs Group, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. © 1999 Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. Washington Office 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 461 Washington, D.C. 20036 202/785-3351 810 Seventh Avenue New York, New York 10019 212/541-7800 |
