Senate outlaws partial-birth abortion, but veto looms

On October 21, by a vote of 63 to 34, the Senate passed a bill (S 1692) that would outlaw partial-birth abortions. This Is less than the 67 votes needed to override President Clinton's promised veto. Had the three missing senators been present, the vote would have been 65 to 35, meaning supporters picked up one vote over the 64 they had last year. In 1996, the ban had only 57 supporters.

The bill would Impose a fine and up to two years in prison on any physician who performs the gruesome act of bringing all but the head of the partially born child outside the mother and then puncturing the child's head, killing it before It is technically separate from the woman. (See HumAN EvENTs last weeK page 7.) The bill would not ban the procedure if it were necessary to save the mother's life.

The most common objection to this ban was concern that this procedure is often necessary to protect the "health"--not Ift-of the mother, which medical experts say Is never the case, but which has nonetheless been President Clinton's stated reason for refusing to sign the measure. Bill sponsor Son. Rick Santorun (R.-Pa.) refuted those claims, noting that if the premature baby can be mostly delivered without harming the mother, It can always be fully delivered safely. He quoted many obstetricians who agree: "Partial-birth abortion is never medically indicated to protect a woman's health or fertility."

Democrats argued that the bill was a covert attack on Roe v. INkle, and a step towards banning all abortions.

Santorum repeatedly denied that "This is not like abortion. This is like infanticide. This is a baby who Is all but born and then killed:' Sen. Tom Harkin (D.-Iwa) attached to the bill an amendment expressing agreement with Roo v. Wade (see Senate rollcall below).

Son. Tim Hutchinson (R.-Ark.) argued that allowing partial-birth abortions harmed the nation's moral Integrity. He cited examples of parents' killing their newborn children and said that"there is a connection [to abortion]; that violence begets violence; that dehumanizing one part of mankind contributes to the dehumanizing of all vulnerable human beings-whether they are the disabled, whether they are the elderly, or whether they are the newborn:'

The Senate rejected, 61 to 38, an amendment from Sen. Dick Durbin (11411.) that would have replaced the bill with a ban on all abortions of "viable" fetuses unless "grievous injury" or death of the mother might result from continued pregnancy. Such a law would outlaw many abortions not banned by S 1692, but permit many that the bill would prohibit.

Congress passed a ban on partial-birth abortions in 1995 and 1997 with considerable bipartisan support in both houses, but both times President Clinton vetoed the bill. The House had enough votes to override the veto, but in the Senate the override attempts, which require 67 votes, failed both times.

A "yes" vote was a vote to ban partial-birth abortions except when the mother's physical life is at risk. A "no" vote was a vote against the ban.

FOR THE BILL: 63

REPUBLICANS FOR (48): Abraham, Allard, Ashcroft, Bennett, Brownback, Bond, Bunning, Burns, Campbell, Cochran, Coverdell, Craig, Crapo, DeWine, Domenici, Enzi, Fitzgerald, Frist, Gorton, Gramm (Tex.), Grams (Minn.), Grassley, Hagel, Hatch, Helms, Hutchinson (Ark.), Hutchison (Tex.), Inhofe, Kyl, Loft, Lugar, McCain, McConnell, Murkowski, Nickles, Roberts, Roth, Santorum, Sessions, Shelby, Smith (Ore.), Specter, Stevens, Thomas, Thompson, Thurmond, Voinovich and Warner.

DEMOCRATS FOR (14): Bayh, Biden, Breaux, Byrd, Conrad, Daschle, Dorgan, Hollings, Johnson, Landrieu, LeaN Lincoln, Moynihan and Reid (Nev.).

INDEPENDENTS FOR (1): Smith (N.H.).

AGAINST THE BILL: 34

REPUBLICANS AGAINST (3): Collins, Jeffords and Snows.

DEMOCRATS AGAINST (31): Akaka, Baucus, Bingaman, Boxer, Bryan, Cleland, Dodd, Durbin, Edwards, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham (Fla.), Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerrey (Neb.), Kerry (Mass.), Kohl, Lautenberg, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Reed (R.I.), Robb, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Torricelli, Wellstone and Wyden.

NOT VOTING: 3

REPUBLICANS (3): Chafee, Gregg and Mack

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Nov 5, 1999
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