The GOP's New Abortion Agenda

[onehandle]

If you thought the abortion battle during the health care debate was fierce, just wait until Republicans take over the House in January. Strengthened by congressional victories in the midterm elections, Republican abortion foes plan to push hard in the new year. Their top goals: enshrine tough restrictions on abortion funding into federal law and defund Planned Parenthood. And they'll have Democratic help to do it.

The tip of the spear when it comes to GOP efforts advance anti-abortion legislatin is the the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (HR 5939), which was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and already has 185 cosponsors. The bill's goals were highlighted in the GOP's "Pledge to America," and future Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) has repeatedly emphasized his continued commitment to anti-abortion legislation. After Republicans won control of the House, LifeNews, an anti-abortion rights website, trumpeted Boehner's promise that he "won't compromise" on key issues like abortion legislation. The site made special mention of Smith's bill. (Smith's office didn't return multiple phone calls requesting comment.)

The current rule preventing most federal funding of abortions, the Hyde Amendment, has to be reauthorized every year. While the amendment has been re-upped each year since 1976, the annual reauthorization fight often forces opponents of abortion rights, who generally have a majority in the House, to negotiate with supporters of those rights, who often hold a majority in the Senate.

There's lots to negotiate: while most people think of the Hyde Amendment as one bill, in practice it is a series of negotiated provisions in a series of different spending bills. It works a little bit differently in each of them. But if the GOP gets what it wants, pro-lifers won't have to worry about that ever again. "The beauty of the new bill is...that it will make these policies banning abortion funding in various situations permanent federal law instead of annual battles that pro-life advocates sometimes lose depending on who controls Congress and the White House," writes LifeNews' Steve Ertelt.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/republicans-abortion-hyde-amendment-defund-planned-parenthood

[Tesha]

1. This is another case where the Democratic Party could have led.

The American people are quite firmly behind reproductive
freedom and would be even more so if their leaders led them,
providing a counterweight to the constant stream of bullshit
from Fox News and the Religious Right.

But here, as in so many other places, Democrats default,
letting Republicans set the agenda.

Tesha

[EC]

2. Wasn't Planned Parenthood one of Prescott Bush's babys?

or maybe it was H.W.?

It was Prescott - I remember now...he was the first treasurer or something for the first national campiagn for Planned Parenthood...worked with Margaret Sanger to nationalize the Birth Control Org (or whatever it was called)which became Planned Parenthood....


So now repubs also wipeout their accomplishments?