House vote to continue 'Mexico City Policy' fails

House vote to continue 'Mexico City Policy' fails

A pro-life group is upset and disappointed that the Democratic-controlled Congress has voted to rescind a policy that prevented U.S. taxpayer money from going to overseas groups that perform and promote abortions.

The House has defeated an amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) to preserve the "Mexico City Policy." This policy specifies that federal funds for family planning are not available to non-government organizations that perform or promote abortions as a method of family planning. The amendment -- sponsored by Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) -- failed on a vote of 205-218, generally along party lines. H.R. 2764 was eventually passed 241-178, and was sent on to the Senate.

Deidre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is optimistic President Bush will turn the bill away. "Our pro-abortion Congress has voted to rescind the Mexico City policy, but we're still fighting to make sure it's going to be in place," she says. "The president has ensured that he will veto this bill because of the change in the law."

McQuade believes such a policy "would be at war with itself." She says "logic and common sense dictate that we cannot reduce abortions by supporting groups that are dedicated to promoting them."

The Mexico City policy was introduced by the Reagan administration in 1984, rescinded by Bill Clinton, then re-instituted by President George W. Bush two days after his 2001 inauguration.