Congressman Trent Franks to Introduce an Anti-Federalist Bill that Interferes with a Local Jurisdiction’s Rights

WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, on Monday is expected to introduce an anti-federalist bill that would ban all abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks, with limited exceptions. Only one week into the second session of the 112th Congress, this House Republican has broadened Congressional attacks on women who live in the District and on home rule with the "District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." The bill would prohibit such abortions in only one local jurisdiction, the District of Columbia. The bill comes one month after the fiscal year 2012 spending bill re-imposed, for the second fiscal year in a row, a prohibition on the District's use of its local funds for abortions for low-income women.

"We do not intend to succumb to the insatiable Republican obsession with interfering with the rights of women in our city," Norton said. "Most Americans respect the honest differences in the nation on abortion. Even those who disagree with the views of our residents understand that neither the Constitution nor Supreme Court interpretations allow disparate treatment of our residents. Congress gave the District the home-rule right to govern itself in 1973, and we will fight to maintain the very same rights as every American and every local government enjoys. Instead of spending the recess focused on jumpstarting the economy or attending to the business of his own constituents, Representative Franks appears to have used his time at home figuring out new ways to undemocratically usurp the local authority of American citizens who did not elect him and who have no way to hold him accountable. There can be no justification for denying the federal taxpaying residents of the nation's capital the same rights as other American citizens. If Representative Franks believes his bill represents sound policy, he should introduce a bill that applies to the entire country. We will not stand still as we are singled out for discriminatory treatment."

In the first session, Franks denied the Congresswoman the right to testify at his committee's hearing on H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which, among other things, would ban the District of Columbia from spending its local funds on abortion services for low-income women, and redefine this free-standing local jurisdiction as part of the federal government for the purpose of abortion, an unprecedented violation of the District's right to self-government. Norton has already begun working with her congressional allies and the coalition of 100 national and local organizations that helped her achieve a Senate Appropriations Committee-passed Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill free of all anti-home-rule riders to defeat the bill.

Published: January 20, 2012