Senate Votes U.S. Funds For Abortion Promoters Abroad

On April 5, by a vote of 52 to 46, the Senate voted for an amendment to the State Department and Foreign Aid authorization bill (S 600) to overturn the so-called "Mexico City" policy implemented by President Bush in 2001.

The policy, first established in 1984 by President Reagan, prevents federal foreign aid funds for family planning from going to groups that perform or refer women for abortions or that lobby to legalize abortion in other countries.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.-Calif.), the amendment's sponsor, denounced the Mexico City policy as the "global gag rule." She said that by funding groups that advocate abortion worldwide, her amendment would be spreading the same freedom and democracy that our troops have died in order to bring to countries such as Iraq.

"I cannot understand for the life of me how we can in good faith, as the leading democracy in the world, sending our troops abroad-and they are dying every day for freedom of speech and for the kind of constitution we hope others will have-how we could put a global gag rule on those organizations when in this country we could not even consider it for two seconds because it would be completely unconstitutional," said Boxer.

Boxer argued that her amendment actually would not bring about federal funding of abortionists and abortion lobbyists in foreign countries because the federal money was separate from the money they would use to lobby. Under the Mexico City policy, she said, "in some of the poorest countries in the world, we are saying if [NGOs] want to get a penny of federal funds, USAID or the like, they cannot use their own funds in any way they would like....It tells the NGOs, the non-governmental organizations, they cannot use their own funds even to advocate for less restrictive laws."

Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Kan.) rejected this idea, noting that money is fungible-in other words, that any amount of federal money a group receives from the government represents financial support for all of its activities. "The money is fungible," said Brownback. "It can go into an organization and be used to replace dollars that can then be used for abortion. Why should we put that sort of ideology forward on another country when we have not resolved it ourselves?"

Boxer also argued that the United States' failure to fund abortion lobbying resulted in pro-life laws' being enacted in foreign countries. "In Peru, for example," she said, "family-planning NGOs funded by the U.S. were barred from advocating against a constitutional clause banning abortion. It was not the Peruvian government gagging their own people, it was our government."

When asked by HUMAN EVENTS, a State Department official denied ever forcing any Peruvian NGO to take U.S. taxpayers' money.

Although Boxer's amendment passed, its opponents noted that they had gained four votes over the last time it was proposed in 2003. The amendment is certain to be removed from the State Department bill in the upcoming House-Senate conference negotiations.

Ironically, this amendment passed just 30 minutes after the Senate passed a resolution honoring Pope John Paul II, the principal architect, with Reagan, of the Mexico City policy.

Democrats-including a handful that claim to be pro-life-were completely united in supporting the amendment.

A "yes" vote was a vote for the Boxer amendment to open federal foreign aid funds to non-governmental family-planning organizations that perform, refer women to or lobby for abortions. A "no" vote was a vote against the amendment, and in favor of Bush's position.

FORTHE AMENDMENT: 52

REPUBLICANS FOR (8): Collins, Chafee, Murkowski, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stevens, and Warner.

DEMOCRATS FOR (43): Akaka, Baucus, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Cantwell, Carper, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dayton, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Johnson, Kerry, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Mikulski, Murray, Nelson (Fla.), Nelson (Neb.), Obama, Pryor, Reed (R.I.), Reid (Nev.), Rockefeller, Salazar, Sarbanes, Schumer, Stabenow, and Wyden.

INDEPENDENTS FOR (1): Jeffords

AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: 46

REPUBLICANS AGAINST (46): Alexander, Allen, Bennett, Bond, Brownback, Bunning, Burns, Burr, Coburn, Cochran, Coleman, Cornyn, Craig, Crapo, Chambliss, DeMint, DeWine, Dole, Domenici, Ensign, Enzi, Frist, Graham, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Hatch, Hutchison, Inhofe, Isakson, Kyl, Loti, Lugar, Martinez, McCain, McConnell, Roberts, Santorum, Sessions, Shelby, Sununu, Talent, Thomas, Thune, Vitter, and Voinovich.

DEMOCRATS AGAINST (0)

NOT VOTING (2): Allard and Kennedy.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Apr 18, 2005
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