Bush Promises to Protect Pro-Life Amendments

3 May 2007     Vol. 9 / No. 16

Dear Colleague,

During his first six years in office, President Bush rarely threatened to veto legislation. But now, facing a Congress whose leadership is hostile to Life, he has drawn a line in the sand. To those who wish to use U.S. funds to perform abortions, to lobby for the legalization of abortion overseas, and to impose population control on poor women, he says, “You shall not pass.” His veto threat virtually guarantees that these provisions, which have long been the law of the land, continue to protect women and families

Steven W. Mosher

President     

Bush Promises to Protect Pro-Life Amendments

Since last November elections put the party of abortion in power, pro-life leaders in Congress have been moving to protect past pro-life victories. In March, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus in the House of Representatives, and Congressman Joe Pitts (R-PA), who heads the House’s Values Action Team team, sent a strongly worded letter to President Bush. This letter requests that Bush veto any appropriations bills that do not protect life:

Dear Mr. President:

As you know, there is a long-standing tradition of including language in appropriations bills to prevent taxpayer money from being used to fund things objectionable to pro-life Americans. These provisions include language to prevent direct taxpayer funding of abortion, restrictions on funding for abortion advocates, conscience protections, embryo protection, and anti-coercive family planning provisions.

We believe that this tradition should be continued and urge you to commit publicly to veto any appropriations bill that weakens taxpayer protections in this regard. We will vote to sustain any such veto.

Congressman Chris Smith,

Chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus

United States House of Representatives

The language of the letter is deliberately broad, because it is intended to safeguard all pro-life amendments. Of these, the Mexico City policy, which forbids funds from going to organizations that promote or perform abortions, the Kemp-Kasten amendment, which prohibits funding from going to forced abortion and forced sterilization programs, and the Tiahrt Amendment, which helps ensure that family planning programs are voluntary, are among the most important. But there are many more. As one staffer commented, “There certainly is an effort to protect the Mexico City Policy and Tiahrt among others, [but] it is the request of the letters’ signatories that the President protect all eighteen of these provisions. The letter asks the President to publicly commit to protecting these riders from being removed from the appropriations bills.”

The letter was signed by 166 members of the House of Representatives. The number is important because it constitutes more than a third of the House. Since a presidential veto can only be overridden by a two-thirds majority, these 166 pro-lifers can ensure that a veto will stand.

Senator Brownback,

Kansass Senator and Tireless Pro-Life Advocate

Pro-lifers in the U.S. Senate, led by Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, drafted a similar letter. This letter garnered 34 signatures, or one more than needed to sustain a presidential veto.

This effort has paid off. On May 3, the president sent identical letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) telling them to keep their hands off the pro-life amendments. “I will veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion,” he told them firmly. “Or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage.”

Congressman Chris Smith was quick to praise the President. “President George Bush has been both faithful and courageous in defending both unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion. I am proud that a veto-proof number of Members of this body signed a letter to the President making clear their commitment to sustaining any veto issued by the President because any pro-life provision has been weakened or nullified.”

We, too, are pleased that President Bush has risen to the occasion. But much of the credit belongs to pro-life leaders like Chris Smith, Joe Pitts, and Sam Brownback, who drafted and circulated the letters, and who pressed the White House for a strong commitment from the President.

Let us hope that the new leaders of Congress will refrain from fruitlessly challenging existing pro-life laws now that they know they will be sure to lose.

Colin Mason is the Media Director at PRI.

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