Pro-Life Amendments Blocked by Democratic Leadership
Congressman Chris Smith was blocked from offering two pro-life, pro-child, pro-women amendments to the huge $410 billion FY2009 Omnibus spending bill considered on the House floor Wednesday.
Smith had testified before the Democrat House Rules Committee and notified them of his two pro-life amendments, but the Rules Committee issued a closed rule that barred either amendment from even being brought to the House floor to be considered or voted upon.
Smith's first amendment would restore the prolife "Mexico City Policy," rescinded by Obama in his first week of office. Announced in 1984, the policy prohibits U.S. taxpayer money to fund groups that promote or perform abortion in other countries, while allowing other family planning activities.
"As a direct, absolutely predictable consequence of President Obama's Abortion Export Order a few weeks ago nullifying the Mexico City Policy the number of innocent children forced to die from dismemberment, decapitation, or chemical poisoning by abortion will increase significantly, mostly in Africa and Latin America," said Smith.
"The pro-abortion organizations who will divvy up the $545 million pot of U.S. taxpayer grant money contained in today's Omnibus bill have made it abundantly clear that they will aggressively promote, lobby, litigate and perform abortion on demand in developing countries. My amendment would have prevented that from pushing abortions as a method of family planning."
Smith pointed out that the American people do not want their taxpayer dollars going to promote and perform abortion overseas.
"According to a Gallup poll released earlier this month, overturning this pro-life policy was the least popular of the President's actions in his first week in office. In fact 58% of those polled opposed overturning the policy and only 35% supported funding groups that promote or provide abortion as a method of family planning," he said. "Why not let the American people be heard on this issue?"
Smith's second amendment would have corrected a provision of the bill that would guarantee U.S. funding for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), even if that agency continues to participate in China's coercive population control program. The bill language effectively exempts the UNFPA from the requirements of the Kemp-Kasten anti-coercion law, which denies funding to organizations that support programs of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
"The UN Population Fund has actively supported, co-managed, and white-washed the most pervasive crimes against women in human history," said Smith who held twenty six hearing on human rights in China as the former House chairman of the Human Rights committee.
"China's one-child-per-couple policy relies on pervasive, coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization, ruinous fines in amounts up to ten times the salary of both parents, imprisonment, and job loss or demotion to achieve its quotas. "And through it all, throughout the past three decades, the UN Population Fund has remained China's chief apologist as well as population control program trainer, facilitator and funder.
"This bill gives them $50 million and a slap on the wrist," he said.
In closing Smith reprimanded the Democrat leadership for its response to this horrific human rights abuse to Chinese women, children and the family.
"So, how does Congress respond to the UNFPA's complicity in China's crimes against women?" Smith asked. "Do we demand reform and protection of Chinese women and children?
"Heck no. We gut the anti-coercion law and write a $50 million check to the UNFPA."
Contact: Congressman Chris Smith
Source: National Right to Life
Source URL: http://www.nrlc.org
Publish Date: February 26, 2009
Link to this article:
http://www.ifrl.org/ifrl/news/090227_6.htm
