Sunday, December 29, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Energized by the midterm elections, the anti-abortion movement is counting on Republican control of the new Congress and backing from President Bush to enact key elements of its long-stalled agenda.

High on the list are bills to ban partial-birth abortions, make it a federal crime to circumvent state parental-consent laws, punish criminals who harm a fetus, and give health providers and insurers the legal right to refuse to perform, pay for or counsel patients for abortion services.

"I do think the election provided important momentum for the pro-life agenda," said Kenneth Connor, president of the Family Research Council, an advocacy group. "There is a lot of optimism."

Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League, said the Democrats' loss of Senate control in the November election "significantly changed the political landscape" and "removed the only national government institution that provided a fire wall" protecting abortion rights.

"We have never had an environment as hostile as this since Roe vs. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court 30 years ago," said Michelman. "This could really result in more losses than we have experienced in the past."

In addition to easing the way for restrictive legislation, Michelman said, the power shift will make it easier for Bush to win approval of federal judges who oppose abortion. Jim Backlin, legislative director for the Christian Coalition, said the appointment of anti-abortion and conservative judges will be among his group's top priorities.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, said that for the past two years, Senate Democrats blocked anti-abortion bills approved by the House. With Republicans set to take control of the Senate Jan. 7, he said, that should change.

"We would expect to see a number of these bills considered," said Johnson. "It won't happen all at once, but bills will be taken up at the appropriate times during the course of the Congress. ...This now opens the door."

The anti-abortion groups also believe Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who this month replaced Trent Lott (R-Miss.) as the Senate majority leader, will be an ally. Some conservatives worry, though, that in his new role, he may not be as activist as they hope.

Frist has regularly received a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. In a 1998 letter to constituents, he wrote: "As a physician, my professional ethics are grounded in preserving life, and I am opposed to abortion. I would make exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or to preserve the life of the mother."

Michelman said abortion rights advocates will have "little recourse but to ask our friends in the Senate to filibuster against some of the more egregious assaults on reproductive rights." But, she said, abortion opponents "have the power, and they will exercise that power to take us as close as they legally can to eliminating the right to choose."

President Bush is firmly on record opposing abortion -- a marked contrast to President Bill Clinton, who protected abortion rights for eight years.

Bush supported four anti-abortion bills that passed the House and died in the Senate in the last Congress, though he has not made abortion a top legislative priority.

On a separate front, the administration blocked $34 million in funding for the United Nations Population Fund earlier this month, arguing the organization aids Chinese government agencies that force women to have abortions.

The administration also tried, but failed, this month to insert anti-abortion language into an international family planning agreement. The language asserted that the "United States supports innocent life from conception to natural death" and "does not support, promote or endorse abortions, abortion related services" or substances that induce an abortion.

Last summer, the administration adopted a policy allowing states to make an "unborn child" eligible for medical coverage under the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The White House said the policy will increase health care for pregnant women, but opponents said it is an attempt to establish a precedent granting legal status to the unborn, which could lead to court cases undermining the right to abortion.

The first test for the new Congress is likely to come early next year with a vote on the late-term surgical procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion. The procedure, known medically as intact dilation and extraction, involves bringing the fetus as far as possible through the birth canal, then collapsing the skull so the fetus can be removed entirely.

Clinton in 1996 and 1997 vetoed bills that would have banned the procedure. Last July, the House approved the legislation, 274-151, but the Senate never brought it up.

Opponents to a ban say they will file a court challenge if Congress acts, citing a 2000 Supreme Court decision striking down a Nebraska law prohibiting the procedure. A similar New Jersey law was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court the same year.

Another proposal, designed to enforce state parental consent laws, would make it a federal crime for an adult to take a pregnant minor across state lines for an abortion without obtaining a parent's permission. The House approved the bill in April by a 260-161 vote, but it did not come up in the Senate.

A third bill would expand a federal law that protects doctors from discrimination charges in limited circumstances if they choose not to perform abortions. The measure, approved by a 229-189 House vote in October, would let hospitals and insurers refuse to perform or pay for abortions without forfeiting Medicare and other federal funding.

A fourth measure would make it a federal offense to harm a human fetus during the commission of a crime against a woman. Supporters said the bill is intended to ensure that criminals who attack a pregnant woman are charged with murder or manslaughter if the woman survives but her fetus perishes. The bill passed 252-172 in April, but was never taken up in the Senate.