Oregon’s Gordon Smith Helps Take Off the
Gag
When
it comes to family planning, we’ve got a friend in
Oregon!
US Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) can usually be
counted on to vote with the Party leadership. So much so that the
leadership assumed Smith would be a principal supporter of efforts
to keep the Global Gag Rule in place. The Gag Rule bans
federal funding for any overseas family planning organization that
even discusses abortion as a reproductive health
option.
But when it came time to vote on an effort to
lift the Gag Rule, Sen. Smith surprised many of his fellow
Committee members by pointedly stating that international family
planning programs have been effective at reducing the incidence of
abortion, and he would not vote to interfere with their work.
Smith was one of two Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee who voted in favor of the bill, which awaits action
from the full Senate.
RPCC can claim some credit in winning
Sen. Smith over on the family planning issue. While not generally
supportive of ‘choice’ issues, he was willing to listen to our
positions on family planning at a meeting earlier this year with
RPCC National Director Lynn Grefe.
“I met Senator Smith in
Oregon while I joined with our forming state chapter at the
Dorchester Meeting of moderate GOPers. I took the opportunity to
discuss the gag rule with him and suggested that just as he expects
us to trust government funds given to ‘faith based’ organizations to
be used only for programs, not proselytizing, so should he trust
international family planning funds to be used only for prevention,
not abortion services.”
“After much discussion, we both
agreed that a common objective is to reduce the need for abortion
through family planning,” said Grefe. “Smith had said he might now
be swayed by our arguments, and apparently he was. There is no doubt
that our Oregon friends spoke up too and we are all pleased with his
support for family planning.”
Legislative
Update
Federal
Employee Health Benefits
In a significant victory for family
planning, the House Appropriations Committee, 40-21, approved an
amendment by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY). The Lowey amendment restores
the contraceptive equity provision to the Treasury-Appropriations
Bill as the bill moves to the full House.
Thirteen
Republicans broke ranks and voted for the Lowey amendment: Reps.
JoAnne Emerson (MO), Rod Frelinghuysen (NJ), Kay Granger (TX), Dave
Hobson (OH), Jim Kolbe (AZ), Tom Latham (IA), Dan Miller (FL),
George Nethercutt (WA), Anne Northup (KY), Ralph Regula (OH), Don
Sherwood (PA), John Sweeney (NY), and Committee Chairman Bill Young
(FL). We thank them.
Global Democracy Promotion Act (S
367)
The Boxer Global Democracy Promotion Act was
reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on August 1st
on a vote of 12-7. The Committee's 10 Democrats plus Sens. Lincoln
Chafee (R-RI) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) voted for the bill. Remarks
from Sen. Smith silenced the room.
Next steps on moving
S. 367 is independently unclear, meanwhile, the Senate-reported FY
2002 foreign ops bill, already contains the operative section of the
Boxer language.
Status: Global Democracy Promotion
Act was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General
Orders.
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