Issues on the congressional agenda include:
 
Criminalizing Safe Medical Procedures
In the coming weeks, President Bush is set to sign dangerous anti-choice legislation (H.R.760/S.3) that will outlaw safe abortion procedures.  The so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban is unconstitutional and does not even contain an exception to protect the woman’s health. The legislation now awaits a House and Senate conference committee to resolve final differences in the two chambers’ bills.
 
Undermining Roe v. Wade
Prior to departing for the August recess, Senate leaders attempted to bring the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R.1997/S.1019) to the floor. The bill is a sneak attack on a woman’s right to choose. Rather than prevent and punish domestic violence and provide services to women and their families, the bill would, for the first time in federal law, recognize an embryo as a person with rights separate and apart from the woman. Despite claims that the bill protects pregnant women from acts of violence, its true intent is to undermine Roe v. Wade.  Even anti-choice Senator Orrin Hatch has admitted, “They say it undermines abortion rights. It does.” [CNN, 5/8/03].

Packing the Federal Courts
Anti-choice Senate leaders have promised to continue holding votes on President Bush’s right-wing judicial nominees, who are narrow in their views of women’s rights, staunch in their opposition to abortion, and intent on overturning decisions that have long been accepted by the courts and the public. It is likely that there could be further votes on anti-choice nominees like William Pryor, Priscilla Owen, and Carolyn Kuhl, as well as Judiciary Committee action on anti-choice nominees such as Janice Rogers Brown and Claude Allen.
 
Expanding the Global Gag Rule
Unsatisfied with the current reach of the odious global gag rule, during Labor Day weekend, President Bush expanded this unconscionable policy.  Before Labor Day weekend, the global gag rule prohibited the U.S. Agency for International Development from granting family-planning funds to any foreign non-governmental organization unless it agreed not to use its own, private, non-U.S. funds for abortion services, counseling, or voicing a public pro-choice position. Now, this policy will apply to every dollar spent by the entire State Department—over $8 billion dollars!  The global gag rule has already been documented as reducing women’s family planning services, and was intolerable even before this latest outrageous expansion.  The Senate voted recently to repeal the policy; whether their view will prevail will be determined in a closed door House and Senate conference controlled by the anti-choice leadership. 

Threatening Health Care Funding
Starting the week of September 2nd, the Senate is beginning to work on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, the annual spending bill that funds a number of important health-related programs, including the Title X (ten) family-planning program. Anti-choice lawmakers frequently use this bill as a vehicle for attacks on family planning and other reproductive health services. In recent years, amendments offered have included attempts to require parental consent for minors seeking contraception at Title X clinics; proposals to limit young women’s access to emergency contraception; and attempts to fund deceptive anti-choice “crisis pregnancy centers” and research on alleged “post-abortion trauma.” 
 
Promoting Abstinence-Only Education Programs
Responsible sex education programs that teach both abstinence and contraception have been proven time and again to work.  Abstinence-only programs, meanwhile, have not been proven effective, and experts have advised strongly against continued funding. Nevertheless, President Bush continues to push these programs and at the expense of traditional sex ed. Anti-choice congressional leaders dramatically increased funding for these programs in this year’s Labor-HHS Appropriations bill. The Senate version of the bill sets funding for abstinence-only programs at an all-time high of $135 million.
 
Interfering With Doctor-Patient Relationships
The Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (H.R.4691) would allow health-care companies and HMOs to restrict abortion-related services and information doctors may provide to their female patients.  The bill, which would effectively enact a back-door gag rule on abortion services and doctor-patient counseling, was introduced in 2002. The House passed the bill last year, but the Senate has never considered it. The White House and anti-choice congressional leaders reportedly consider the bill a top priority this session.

Contact your members of Congress TODAY and urge them to protect a woman’s right to choose!