Hyde Amendment

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.

Abortion fund is better used for educationI read with interest your article on the ban on Medicaid abortions ("Congress votes 255-178 to maintain 16-year ban on abortions," July 1.)The pro-choice faction is upset with the unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Hyde amendment in the House, which would have lifted the ban on federally funded abortions.As a female and a registered Democrat, I cannot say that I'm upset. I work hard and do not want my dollars used to support a "procedure" that I find sickening and cannot condone.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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 -- Opening a new season of struggle over federal abortion policy, the Clinton administration plans to ask Congress to lift the nearly total ban on federal financing of abortions for poor women, White House officials say.The move will come in President Clinton's detailed federal budget request, which is expected to be made public the week of April 4, said George Stephanopoulos, the White House communications director.How Congress will respond and how hard Mr. Clinton will push the issue are unclear, lawmakers and legislative analysts on Capitol Hill say. Opponents of abortion say they believe they have a good chance of blocking the president.

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.