US Senate Approves Foreign Abortion Funding

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US Senate Approves Foreign Abortion Funding

Special Report - September 14, 2007
Abortion providers in foreign countries could receive federal funding from the United States under an amendment passed on September 6 by the U.S. Senate. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D–CA) and approved 53 to 41 as part of an appropriations bill (H.R. 2764), would rescind an executive order issued by the Bush Administration in 2001 reinstating what is known as the “Mexico City Policy.” First enacted by President Reagan in 1984, the policy prohibits the use of federal funds by organizations that promote abortion as a family planning method in foreign countries. President Bush has pledged to veto H.R. 2764 if the appropriations bill contains language that would weaken the current abortion funding restrictions.

Senate lawmakers also voted 48 to 45 to approve an amendment sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R–KS) that reinserts the Kemp-Kasten provision, which had been removed from the bill in committee. Originally enacted in 1985, the Kemp-Kasten language prohibits federal dollars from being used to support foreign organizations that offer “a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.”

A companion appropriations bill passed the House in June, so federal lawmakers now must reconcile differences between the two measures before a final version is sent to President Bush.