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Reproductive Health |
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| Campaigns
against a woman's right to choose have been led by
Religious Right organizations and a wide range of
anti-choice groups. Women's access to reproductive
health services and abortion has been restricted through
a combination of state and federal legal measures;
personal intimidation, violence, and legal harassment
against providers; and the loss of facilities that can
perform abortions through mergers between public and
Catholic hospitals. In addition, the anti-choice
movement has successfully campaigned in state
legislatures for restrictions on minors' access to
abortion. Twenty-one states require that at least one
parent receive notification before a minor can obtain an
abortion, and twenty-two states require consent from at
least one parent. |
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On July 24, 2002, the House passed the so-called
"Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2002" (HR 4965)
274-151. As in past "partial-birth abortion" bills, HR
4965 does not contain an exception for the health of the
woman. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Stenberg v.
Carhart found a similar state statute
unconstitutional because, among other reasons, it placed
an "undue burden" on the woman and did not contain a
health exception. It is important to note that the term
"partial-birth" abortion is not a medical term, but a
phrase coined by anti-choice groups. PFAW opposed HR
4965.
More than 100,000 women live on military bases
overseas and rely on military hospitals for their health
care. Currently, these women are banned from receiving
privately funded abortions at these hospitals. On June
21, 2002, the Senate passed an amendment to the
fiscal year 2003 Department of Defense Authorization
bill offered by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) that would repeal the ban on
access to abortion for women in the military overseas.
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) offered a similar
amendment to the House version of the bill, but it
failed both in committee and on the floor. PFAW
supported the Murray-Snowe and Sanchez amendments and
will work to have the language included when the bill
goes to conference.
Both the House and the Senate are considering bills
this session to reauthorize welfare reform
initiatives. The House passed its version on May 16,
2002, which includes an authorization for so-called
"abstinence-unless-married" sex-education programs. This
is one of three funding streams devoted to these
unproven abstinence-only programs. In contrast, no
federal funds are allocated for comprehensive
sex-education programs. The House Energy and Commerce
Committee rejected amendments that would have allowed
states flexibility in deciding to use the funds for
"abstinence-only" programs or more comprehensive
curricula, required "abstinence-only" programs to
contain medically accurate information, and limited
funding only to programs proven effective. The Senate is
expected to consider a welfare reauthorization bill this
year. PFAW opposes federal funding for
abstinence-unless-married sex-education programs, and
supports funding for medically-accurate instruction that
emphasizes the benefits of abstinence while also
teaching about contraception and disease-prevention
methods.
Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) introduced the
"Schoolchildren's Health Protection Act" (HR
3805), which would prevent any federal funds from
going to school districts in which minors have access to
emergency contraception through school-based clinics.
The House leadership assured Rep. Hart that her bill
would reach the floor for a vote before the end of the
session. PFAW opposes this bill.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Louise
Slaughter (D-NY) introduced the "Emergency
Contraception Education Act" in the Senate (S
1990) and the House (HR 3887) that would
provide $10 million for each of the fiscal years 2003
through 2007 to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to educate the public, as well as health care
providers, about emergency contraception. PFAW
supports this bill.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced
the "Child Custody Protection Act" (HR 476),
which would create criminal penalties for an individual,
even a grandparent or religious counselor, accompanying
a minor across state lines for the purpose of obtaining
an abortion in cases where the minor has not complied
with her home state's parental consent laws. On April
17, 2002, HR 476 passed the House 260-161, and
while it has now passed three times in the House, it has
never been taken up in the Senate. PFAW opposed this
bill.
The conference report of the fiscal year 2002
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill included an
increase in Title X family planning funds of $11
million, reflecting a compromise between the Senate's
$12 million appropriation and the House's $10 million
appropriation. PFAW supports increases in Title X
funds.
While considering the fiscal year 2002
Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill, the House
Appropriations Committee passed by a vote of 40-21 an
amendment by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) that restored
contraceptive coverage to federal employees
through their prescription drug benefit plan.
Anti-choice lawmakers, in conjunction with the Bush
administration's 2002 budget, had proposed repealing the
three-year old provision. President Bush signed the bill
into law on November 12, 2001. PFAW supported the
Lowey amendment. |
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One of President Bush's first acts was to reinstate
the global "gag" rule, which prohibits any U.S. family
planning funds from going to overseas groups that
provide abortions or engage in abortion-related advocacy
with their own privately raised, non-U.S. funds. In
addition, under pressure from right-wing groups and
Members of Congress, the President decided to withhold
the $34 million appropriated by Congress for the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the fiscal year
2002 Foreign Operations appropriations bill, because
he feared the money would support coercive abortion
practices in China. It is important to note that U.S.
funds are prohibited under current law from going to
China, and UNFPA resources are prohibited from funding
abortion.
There are efforts in both the House and the Senate
to overturn the global "gag" rule, and to force the
President to give the $34 million to UNFPA. On August 1,
2001 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed by a
vote of 12-7 the "Global Democracy Promotion Act," S.
367, as offered by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
This bill would have repealed the gag rule. The bill's
future is uncertain, however, as Sen. Jesse Helms
(R-NC) has promised "a filibuster like you've never
seen" if the bill reaches the Senate floor. To date, no
Senate action has been scheduled, and the future of
these efforts to overturn the rule is uncertain. PFAW
supports the Boxer bill, all efforts to overturn the
global "gag" rule, and efforts to fully fund
UNFPA. |
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Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has introduced
"Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2001," (HR.
503), which would create a separate offense for an
individual that causes the death or injury of a fetus at
any stage of development, during commission of specific
federal and military crimes. The bill passed the House
on April 26 by a vote of 252 to 172. A substitute
amendment offered by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA),
which would have offered the same penalties for causing
harm to a fetus or terminating a pregnancy but which
would not have recognized the fetus as a separate, legal
person, failed on the House floor by a vote of 196-229.
The Senate may consider the bill at a later date.
PFAW opposed this bill and supported the Lofgren
amendment. |
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