Hyde Amendment

WASHINGTON -- The rancorous House debate and vote to preserve the ban on federal funding of abortions has jarred abortion-rights advocates who hoped that election of a president who proposed lifting the ban would lead to its speedy demise this year. Instead, they have been alerted that passage of the Freedom of Choice Act that would codify a woman's right to abortion under the Roe v. Wade decision is not a sure thing.While insisting that they never had the votes to kill the ban on federal funding, embodied in the 16-year-old amendment sponsored by Republican Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, abortion-rights leaders concede that the highly visible defeat will not help their efforts to cement Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

Republicans in Congress, including Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, would require a woman's accountant — or perhaps an agent of the Internal Revenue Service — to be informed of the circumstances necessitating an abortion. Even when paying for the abortion with her own money, a woman would have to prove to her CPA or the IRS that she was the victim of rape or incest. Otherwise, she would have to forget about deducting the cost of the abortion as a medical expense. "Women who paid for an abortion using money saved in health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts would have to report the amount as taxable income, except in cases of rape or incest, or if the woman's life would be in danger," a website for accountants reported last week, after a vote by the House Ways and Means Committee.

WASHINGTON -- Mounting frustration among women and blacks, many of them freshmen members of Congress, exploded in a near shoving match on the House floor yesterday as conservative forces won a fight to maintain a 16-year ban on federally financed abortions for poor women."

Score another political victory for crusading nonjournalist Jon Stewart. The satirist and host of "The Daily Show," who shamed Congress into approving medical benefits for those who were the first responders on Sept. 11, has again used his piercing ridicule to drive back lawmakers who wanted to redefine rape with the redundant adjective "forcible. " New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House pro-life caucus, introduced a bill late last month called the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. " It was designed to make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or to protect the health of the mother.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week:Y: Yes N: No X: Not votingHouse: AbortionVoting 270 for and 150 against, the House stipulated that the anti-abortion "Hyde amendment" applies to health maintenance organization care just as it does to traditional fee-for-service arrangements between doctors and patients. Under the 20-year-old legislation, Medicaid funds cannot pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is at stake.

State health officials said yesterday that it's unclear how President Clinton's plan to lift a ban on federal financing of abortions for poor women will affect Maryland, which uses state funds to pay for abortions in circumstances beyond those allowed under federal law.The Hyde Amendment, which took effect 16 years ago, allows the federal government to pay for abortions for poor women only if they risk death by continuing the pregnancy.Maryland, however, is one of eight states that uses its own money to pay for abortions if the pregnancy would harm a woman's mental or physical health, the fetus has a serious abnormality or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

State health officials said yesterday that it's unclear how President Clinton's plan to lift a ban on federal financing of abortions for poor women will affect Maryland, which uses state funds to pay for abortions in circumstances beyond those allowed under federal law.The Hyde Amendment, which took effect 16 years ago, allows the federal government to pay for abortions for poor women only if they risk death by continuing the pregnancy.Maryland, however, is one of eight states that uses its own money to pay for abortions if the pregnancy would harm a woman's mental or physical health, the fetus has a serious abnormality or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is expected to fulfill a campaign promise next week by proposing the reversal of a ban on using federal funds to pay for abortions, as part of his budget request to Congress.The president will ask Congress to repeal the law, which bans using Medicaid funds to finance abortions for poor women, said George Stephanopoulos, the chief White House spokesman.Mr. Stephanopoulos cast the decision as an effort to give states greater flexibility. "The Republicans have shown consistently in their platform that they weren't prepared to allow for abortions even in cases of rape and incest," he said.

WASHINGTON -- With President Clinton appearing to waver on his pledge to include abortion in health care reform, supporters and opponents of abortion rights are waging an all-out campaign over government funding of abortions that could have its first critical test this week.Both sides say that the House vote on whether government should pay for abortions for poor women will give one side crucial momentum for the battle later this year over whether national health care reform will cover abortions.

Atlanta. -- In the blizzard of words and numbers from Washington, some facts jump off the page. They are so indefensible, they aren't mentioned. So it is with the question of federal funds for abortions, part of the House debate over the huge social appropriations bill.The unsuccessful attempt last week to repeal the Hyde Amendment of 1976 was a test vote on the current strength of the anti-abortion movement -- an important test because it will set the stage for the larger debate over Hillary Rodham Clinton's health-care package.

A bortion care is part of basic health care for women. It is not up to politicians to decide whether and when we have children. But as Congress nears agreement on a historic health care reform bill, women's fundamental reproductive freedom is being threatened. Proposed restrictions on how or whether insurance companies in the proposed health care exchange could provide abortion coverage for women remain a contentious issue. In order to move forward, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland is corralling wavering Democrats to find the votes necessary to pass the Senate's health care reform bill.

WASHINGTON -- Henry J. Hyde, the veteran Republican from the suburbs of Chicago who was a key figure in the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton and wrote a controversial law ending federal financing for abortions, died yesterday at a hospital in Chicago. He was 83. Mr. Hyde, who retired from Congress at the end of the 2006 session, died at Rush University Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman told the Associated Press he was admitted for persistent renal failure after open-heart surgery in July and suffered a fatal arrhythmia.

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes last week:Y: Yes N: No X: Not votingHouse: AbortionVoting 270 for and 150 against, the House stipulated that the anti-abortion "Hyde amendment" applies to health maintenance organization care just as it does to traditional fee-for-service arrangements between doctors and patients. Under the 20-year-old legislation, Medicaid funds cannot pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is at stake.

WASHINGTON -- A campaign that states have been waging on two fronts -- the courts and Congress -- against paying for abortions for poor women whose pregnancies resulted from sexual assault fell short in the Supreme Court yesterday.The court turned down the first appeal to reach it in a new round of lawsuits by states that do not want to pay for abortions in cases of rape or incest.Those states prefer to pay only for abortions when a pregnancy threatens a woman's life.Although other cases are working their way up to the court's docket, yesterday's order -- issued without comment -- left the states with little hope for relief from the judiciary.

Pyrrhic Victories for Economic DevelopmentIn your editorial of May 23, you correctly pointed out that "planning" should come first in relating to the Wal-Mart and Food Lion building projects on Liberty Road.However, you repeat the absolutely false company and politician propaganda that Wal-Mart will generate 160 new jobs and $110,000 in tax revenues. The so-called "new" jobs will be at the expense of other, smaller businesses which will be forced to close. The taxes paid by Wal-Mart will similarly be a replacement for taxes lost due to business closings.

WASHINGTON -- In a setback for the Clinton administration that could affect national health care legislation, the Senate voted 59-40 yesterday to continue the long-standing ban on federal payments for most abortions under the Medicaid program.The so-called Hyde amendment, through which the ban was instituted 16 years ago, was upheld by a surprisingly large margin, despite pleas from five women Democratic senators that the payments be restored. With support from President Clinton, they argued that the ban discriminates against Medicaid patients who effectively cannot afford the cost of terminating their pregnancies.

WASHINGTON -- In a setback for the Clinton administration that could affect national health care legislation, the Senate voted 59-40 yesterday to continue the long-standing ban on federal payments for most abortions under the Medicaid program.The so-called Hyde amendment, through which the ban was instituted 16 years ago, was upheld by a surprisingly large margin, despite pleas from five women Democratic senators that the payments be restored. With support from President Clinton, they argued that the ban discriminates against Medicaid patients who effectively cannot afford the cost of terminating their pregnancies.

Score another political victory for crusading nonjournalist Jon Stewart. The satirist and host of "The Daily Show," who shamed Congress into approving medical benefits for those who were the first responders on Sept. 11, has again used his piercing ridicule to drive back lawmakers who wanted to redefine rape with the redundant adjective "forcible. " New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House pro-life caucus, introduced a bill late last month called the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. " It was designed to make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or to protect the health of the mother.

Flawed Abortion ArgumentI have long since given up on expecting rational argument from anyone on the so-called pro-choice side of the abortion debate, but your July 6 editorial attacking the House for voting to retain the Hyde amendment was so flawed in its reasoning, I could not restrain myself from replying.First, you parrot President Clinton's glib assertion that abortions can be made "safe and legal," but "rare." Just how do you propose to make abortions rare since you are also proposing to make them free through Medicaid funding?

WASHINGTON -- Outmaneuvering abortion foes on the Appropriations Committee, Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski paved the way yesterday for a Senate vote to end a nine-year ban on federal workers receiving health insurance coverage for abortions.While the issue promises to produce a fierce fight on the Senate floor, the 15-14 committee vote was a key victory for Ms. Mikulski and the Senate's other Democratic women, who lobbied hard in recent days -- with help from the White House -- to line up support from their male colleagues.