Norton Urges Senators to Vote Against Lee’s Post-20-Week D.C. Abortion Ban Amendment
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today sent a letter to all Senators urging them to vote against an amendment Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) filed today to the Senate's budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 8) that expresses the Sense of the Senate that Congress should pass legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in only one jurisdiction, the District of Columbia. Last Congress, Senator Lee, as one of his first acts as a new Senator, introduced a bill that would have banned such abortions in the District, and also filed his bill as an amendment to a cybersecurity bill. The House companion to the bill, sponsored by Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ), was defeated in a vote on the House floor. The bill was the top legislative priority of the National Right to Life Committee last Congress. In leading defeat of the bills, Norton has argued that the anti-choice special interest groups limited the bill's application to the District in order to avoid drawing the attention of the American public, particularly women, while still getting a federal imprimatur for a direct attack on Roe v. Wade. However, pro-choice groups quickly saw the bill as an attack on women's reproductive choice nationally, and choice issues became a significant factor in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, according to experts.
"While Senator Lee's amendment would have no legal effect, its intent could not be clearer: to use the women and physicians of the District of Columbia to overturn Roe v Wade," Norton said. "I have already been in touch with our pro-choice allies in the Senate, and I am grateful that NARAL Pro-Choice America has announced that it will score a vote on the amendment. Senator Lee, a Tea Party leader, professes to believe in states' rights and local control of local affairs. His actions suggest otherwise, and we will find out whether his colleagues are equally selective in the application of their principles." While many groups make voting recommendations to Members of Congress on the bills affecting their members, they score the very few most important ones. These groups then compile annual scorecards based on these key votes to inform their members and the general public whether a Member of Congress is a friend or foe of a policy and of the groups' members.
Published: March 21, 2013