Life Advocacy Briefing

July 20, 2009

‘Healthcare Reform’ as FOCA II / DC Abortion Funding Ban Squelched / DC Ban Rejected by Senate Panel / Awarding our Tax $ to Int’l Planned Parenthood / Judge Sotomayor Embraces Roe Ruling / House Voting Record / Senate Appropriations Committee Voting Records / Senate Health Committee Voting Records

‘Healthcare Reform’ as FOCA II

IT’s NO LONGER A MATTER OF CONJECTURE OR ANALYSIS – the truth came out during the Healthcare Takeover bill’s consideration over the past two weeks in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.

The revelations came on a series of amendments, most offered by pro-life committee Members to make the bill better, some by abortion advocates to make it worse.

As we reported last week, an exchange between Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), made clear the intent of Senate Democrats to cover Planned Parenthood in government medical plans. We publish near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing the committee voting record on the Mikulski amendment.

Further demonstrating the majority party’s intent, the committee last week rejected four pro-life amendments, one by Sen. Hatch (barring the government health plan from abortion coverage), another by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) (barring bureaucrats from mandating abortion coverage) and two more by Sen. Tom Coburn MD (R-OK), one to add an abortion conscience clause for medical personnel and the other to prevent the massive Healthcare Takeover bill from being used to overturn state abortion restrictions. We publish the voting records on these amendments as well.

Two other Life-related amendments were adopted by voice vote, one by Sen. Coburn to provide conscience protections for medical personnel who object to participating in abetted suicide (which itself is not proscribed by this measure) and the second by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) to offer a fake abortion conscience “protection,” limiting existing healthcare conscience protections to those medical providers who formally – in writing – invoke religious or moral beliefs and thereby excluding protection from those who invoke conscientious objection. The Dodd travesty also includes a broad loophole for “emergency” situations.

The Senate committee has ripped the mask off its own radicalism in the “healthcare reform” debate. No longer can any pro-life citizen reasonably plead ignorance of this massive takeover bill’s impact on the right to Life. It is the next Freedom of Choice Act and repeal of all limits on tax funding of abortion, all wrapped up in one horrendous package.

We expect Senators Enzi, Coburn and Hatch, as well as other pro-life Senators, to offer similar or further amendments to the measure when it is debated in the full Senate. Calls are in order now to all Senators requesting their support for pro-life amendments to “Healthcare Reform.” Senators may be reached via the Capitol switchboard at 1-202/224-3121.

 

D.C. Abortion Funding Ban Squelched

THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP SHUT DOWN pro-life attempts last week to reinstate the District of Columbia abortion funding ban, a bad sign for the myriad of taxpayer protection provisions that traditionally ride on appropriations bills, including the Hyde Amendment which annually saves hundreds of thousands of innocent human lives.

After being rebuffed by the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN) took their DC Abortion Funding Ban amendment to the House Rules Committee, seeking clearance to have it considered in floor debate on the Financial Services Appropriation bill in which provisions are made for DC. But in a move which Associated Press (AP) writer Andrew Taylor called “extraordinary” and designed to “protect [Democratic] Members from politically hazardous votes,” the Rules panel, controlled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), turned the bipartisan sponsors away.

The only recourse was a motion during House debate Thursday to recommit the measure to committee with instructions to add the protective amendment.  Rep. Tiahrt made such a motion, only to have it ruled out of order by the presiding officer. He next moved to appeal the ruling of the chair, but Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) moved to table his appeal. We publish the House roll call on the Serrano motion in this Life Advocacy Briefing as a procedural vote which hinged on the abortion funding question. In future editions we will publish the roll call on the rule proposed by the gatekeeping committee and the final passage vote, as the principal controversy about the rule and the spending measure overall was their exclusion of the Tiahrt/Davis amendment.

“Even some Democrats are chafing at the heavy-handed clampdown on debate,” reports Mr. Taylor. “Abortion opponent Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI),” he writes, “on Thursday lashed out at his party’s leaders for denying him and others a chance to vote on restoring [the] long-standing directive by Congress blocking taxpayer-funded abortions in Washington, DC. … [Rep.] Stupak,” reports AP, “said the Democratic leadership’s new policy on floor debates ‘muzzles the voices of pro-life members.’”

 

D.C. Ban Rejected by Senate Panel

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS) OFFERED AN AMENDMENT in the Senate Appropriations Committee last week on the Senate’s own version of the Financial Services spending bill, also to bar public funding of abortions in the nation’s capital. The committee rejected his amendment 13 to 15; we publish that roll call near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing.

He or other Senators are expected to attempt such an amendment during Senate consideration of the measure. If the amendment can be attached in the Senate, the issue will later need to be considered in the conference established to resolve differences between the House and Senate on the spending bill. Callers to Senators (1-202/224-3121) should request “a ‘yes’ vote on prohibiting public funding of abortions in the District of Columbia.”

 

Awarding our Tax $ to Int’l Planned Parenthood

COMPOUNDING HIS PRESIDENT’s CRUELTY to vulnerable babies gestating in other countries, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) took an amendment to the Senate Committee on Appropriations last week to bar future Presidents from reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which, under Presidents Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and G.W. Bush, disqualified abortionists from foreign aid under the US Agency for International Development. The amendment was adopted 17 to 11. Callers (1-202/224-3121) should ask Senators to “support reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy in the State Dept. & Foreign Operations Appropriation bill.”

 

Judge Sotomayor Embraces Roe Ruling

THE ELUSIVE JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR OFFERED LITTLE ‘RED MEAT’ in her confirmation hearings last week, but she did, reports Kathleen Gilbert for LifeSiteNews.com, “assure members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that she would allow Roe v. Wade to stand as precedent,” while stating she “did not consider the absolute ban on partial-birth abortion to constitute precedent of equal weight. … ‘The health and welfare of a woman must be a compelling consideration,’ [Ms.] Sotomayor admitted,” writes Ms. Gilbert.

The Supreme Court nominee was long active in the leadership of the radically pro-abortion Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund but took a moderate tone in the hearings. A vote on her confirmation is expected soon. Pro-life citizens ought to be opposing her nomination via calls to Senators (1-202/224-3121). Though she is being appointed to replace a fellow abortion advocate, her appointment is significant because her lifetime tenure will likely extend 20 to 30 years into the future.

 

House Voting Record

H-Res 644 – Rule for consideration of HR-3170, Financial Services & General Govt. Appropriations, the principal objection being the Rules Committee’s refusal to allow consideration of the Tiahrt/L.Davis Amendment prohibiting public funding of abortion in the District of Columbia – July 16, 2009 – Adopted – 216-213 (Democrats in italic)

Voting “no” / pro-life: Aderholt, Akin, Alexander, Altmire, Austria, Bachmann, Bachus, Barrett (SC), Bartlett, Barton (TX), Biggert, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Bono-Mack, Boozman, Boren, Boustany, Brady (TX), Bright, Broun (GA), Brown (SC), Ginny Brown-Waite, Buchanan, Burgess, Burton (IN), Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cantor, Cao, Capito, Carney, Carter, Cassidy, Castle, Chaffetz, Childers, Coble, Coffman (CO), Cole, Conaway, Costello, Crenshaw, Culberson, Dahlkemper, Davis (AL), Davis (KY), Davis (TN), Deal (GA), Dent, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Diaz-Balart, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Dreier, Driehaus, Duncan, Ehlers, Ellsworth, Emerson, Fallin, Flake, Fleming, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Garrett, Gerlach, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Goodlatte, Granger, Graves, Griffith, Guthrie, Hall (TX), Harper, Hastings (WA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Hill, Hoekstra, Holden, Hunter, Inglis, Issa, Jenkins, Johnson (IL), Sam Johnson, Jones, Jordan (OH), Kanjorski, Kildee, King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kirk, Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kline (MN), Lamborn, Lance, Latham, LaTourette, Latta, Lee (NY), Lewis (CA), Linder, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Daniel Lungren, Mack, Manzullo, Marchant, Marshall, McCarthy (CA), McCaul, McClintock, McCotter, McHenry, McHugh, McIntyre, McKeon, McMorris-Rodgers, Melancon, Mica, Michaud, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Gary Miller, Mitchell, Mollohan, Moran (KS), Tim Murphy, Murtha, Myrick, Neugebauer, Nunes, Nye, Oberstar, Olson, Paul, Paulsen, Perriello, Peterson, Petri, Pitts, Platts, Poe (TX), Posey, Putnam, Radanovich, Rahall, Rehberg, Reichert, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Roskam, Ross, Royce, Ryan (WI), Scalise, Schmidt, Schock, Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Shadegg, Shimkus, Shuler, Shuster, Simpson, Skelton, Smith (NE), Smith (NJ), Smith (TX), Souder, Stearns, Stupak, Sullivan, Taylor, Terry, Thompson (PA), Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tiberi, Turner, Upton, Walden, Wamp, Westmoreland, Whitfield, Wilson (OH), Wilson (SC), Wittman, Wolf, Young (AK).

Voting “yes” / pro-abortion: Abercrombie, Ackerman, Adler (NJ), Andrews, Arcuri, Baca, Baird, Baldwin, Barrow, Bean, Becerra, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Blumenauer, Boswell, Boucher, Boyd, Brady (PA), Braley (IA), Corrine Brown, Butterfield, Capps, Capuano, Cardoza, Carnahan, Carson (IN), Castor (FL), Chandler, Chu, Clarke, Clay, Cleaver, Clyburn, Cohen, Connolly (VA), Conyers, Cooper, Costa, Courtney, Crowley, Cuellar, Cummings, Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Edwards (MD), Edwards (TX), Ellison, Engel, Eshoo, Etheridge, Farr, Fattah, Filner, Foster, Frank (MA), Fudge, Giffords, Gonzalez, Gordon (TN), Grayson, Al Green, Gene Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Hall (NY), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Hastings (FL), Heinrich, Herseth-Sandlin, Higgins, Himes, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Hirono, Hodes, Holt, Honda, Hoyer, Inslee, Israel, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson (GA), E.B. Johnson, Kagen, Kaptur, Kennedy, Kilpatrick (MI), Kilroy, Kind, Kissell, Klein (FL), Kosmas, Kratovil, Kucinich, Langevin, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Lee (CA), Levin, Lewis (GA), Loebsack, Zoe Lofgren, Lowey, Lujan, Lynch, Maffei, Maloney, Markey (CO), Markey (MA), Massa, Matheson, Matsui, McCarthy (NY), McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, McMahon, McNerney, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Miller (NC), George Miller, Minnick, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Murphy (CT), Murphy (NY), Patrick Murphy, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Neal (MA), Obey, Olver, Ortiz, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor (AZ), Payne, Pelosi, Perlmutter, Peters, Pingree (ME), Polis (CO), Pomeroy, Price (NC), Quigley, Rangel, Reyes, Richardson, Rodriguez, Rothman (NJ), Roybal-Allard, Ruppersberger, Rush, Ryan (OH), Salazar, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Schauer, Schiff, Schwartz, Scott (GA), Scott (VA), Serrano, Sestak, Shea-Porter, Sherman, Sires, Slaughter, Smith (WA), Snyder, Space, Speier, Spratt, Stark, Sutton, Tanner, Teague, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Tierney, Titus, Tonko, Towns, Tsongas, VanHollen, Velazquez, Visclosky, Walz, Wasserman-Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Welch, Wexler, Woolsey, Wu, Yarmuth

Not Voting: Lucas, Pence, Price (GA), Schrader, Young (FL)

 

Senate Appropriations Committee Voting Records

Brownback Amendment to annual spending bill for “Financial Services” (including District of Columbia) – to restore ban on public funding of abortions in DC – July 10, 2009 – Rejected 13-15 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-life: Alexander, Bennett, Bond, Brownback, Cochran, Gregg, Hutchison, McConnell, Murkowski, Nelson (NE), Pryor, Shelby, Voinovich

Voting “no” / pro-abortion:Byrd, Collins, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson, Kohl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Reed (RI), Specter, Tester

Voting “present”:Landrieu; Not Voting:Dorgan

Lautenberg Amendment to annual spending bill for State Dept. & Foreign Operations – to bar future Presidents from reinstating the Mexico City Policy (which disqualified abortionists from US Agency for International Development funding) – July 9, 2009 – Adopted 17-11 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no” / pro-life: Alexander, Bennett, Bond, Brownback, Cochran, Gregg, Hutchison, McConnell, Nelson (NE), Shelby, Voinovich

Voting “yes” / pro-abortion:Byrd, Collins, Dorgan, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson, Kohl, Lautenberg, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Pryor, Reed, Specter, Tester

Voting “present”:LandrieuNot Voting: Murkowski

 

Senate Health Committee Voting Records

Mikulski Amendment to Healthcare Takeover bill to specify coverage of women’s health clinics (including Planned Parenthood) – July 10, 2009 – Adopted 12-11 (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked with “I”) (Senators are permitted to vote by proxy in committee.)

Voting “no” / pro-life: Alexander, Burr, Casey, Coburn, Enzi, Gregg, Hatch, Isakson, McCain, Murkowski, Roberts

Voting “yes” / pro-abortion:Bingaman, Brown, Dodd, Franken, Hagan, Harkin, Kennedy, Merkley, Mikulski, Murray, Reed, Sanders (I)

Hatch Amendment to Healthcare Takeover bill to bar federal health plan from purchasing insurance which covers abortion – July 13, 2009 – Rejected 11-12 (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked with “I”) (Senators are permitted to vote by proxy in committee.)

Voting “yes” / pro-life: Alexander, Burr, Casey, Coburn, Enzi, Gregg, Hatch, Isakson, McCain, Murkowski, Roberts

Voting “no” / pro-abortion:Bingaman, Brown, Dodd, Franken, Hagan, Harkin, Kennedy, Merkley, Mikulski, Murray, Reed, Sanders (I)

Coburn I Amendment to Healthcare Takeover bill to provide conscience protections for healthcare workers who object to participation in abortion – July 13, 2009 – Rejected 11-12 (Identical roll call to “Hatch,” above)

Enzi Amendment to Healthcare Takeover bill to bar government bureaucrats from mandating abortion coverage – July 13, 2009 – Rejected 11-12 (Identical roll call to “Hatch” and “Coburn I,” above)

Coburn II Amendment to Healthcare Takeover bill to prevent the proposed law from being used to overturn state abortion laws –July 13, 2009 – Rejected 11-12 (Identical roll call to “Hatch” and “Coburn I,” above)

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