Democrats so deep in abortion politics they'd tank a bipartisan human trafficking bil
Democrats so deep in abortion politics they'd tank a bipartisan human trafficking bill
BY ASHE SCHOW | MARCH 12, 2015 | 3:05 PM
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Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has threatened to block the bill if the language isn't...An anti-human trafficking bill is being held up due to language reiterating already existing law about abortion.
Democrats are upset about language they apparently didn't notice until Wednesday, despite the text being available since late February.
Eleanor Gaetan, a supporter of the bill and legislative adviser at the Coalition Against Trafficking, dismissed Democrats' complaints about the bill.
"Senate Democrats are choosing a phantom problem over real victims," Gaetan told the Dallas Morning News. "At this point, it will be derailed."
The word "abortion" doesn't even appear in the bill's text, as the Morning News noted. The bill states that increased funds to trafficking victim's support services "shall be subject to the limitations on the use or expending of amounts described in sections 506 and 507 of division H of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 ... to the same extent as if amounts in the Fund were funds appropriated under division H of such Act."
That language, which has been in the bill since it was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in late February, is a reference to the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions. So it appears the Democrats, who had previously been pushing the bill, had not read the text before they signed on.
"You think they didn't read the bill before they put their name on it?" asked Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who introduced the bill. "Our friends across the aisle have some outstanding staff. ... I don't believe that they would have missed a reference in this legislation."
Cornyn also pointed out that Obamacare included the Hyde Amendment, and yet Democrats supported that bill (again, perhaps they didn't read it).
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has threatened to block the bill if the language isn't taken out. Reid used to call himself "pro-life," but it's clear the politics of abortion have become so strong for Democrats that any bill that includes abortion language — even ones that include existing law — must be blocked.
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