Congress Likely to Put Pro-Life Policies into Law

(WNS) The U.S. House of Representatives is one step closer to voting on a bill that would convert several pro-life policies -- also known as riders -- into law.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 23-14 on March 3 in favor of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which was introduced by Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., and has close to 210 co-sponsors.

H.R. 3 would prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion in all federal programs; currently a patchwork of such policies must be approved annually. The bill also would codify conscience protections for health care workers who object to abortion and other actions.

Committee member Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said: “While there are strong views on both sides of this issue, one thing is clear: The federal funding of abortion will lead to more abortions.”

Douglas Johnston, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, called H.R. 3 “a clear, comprehensive, uniform policy to prevent federal subsidies for abortion.”

“Anyone who advocates ‘abortion reduction’ — a goal to which even President Obama has given lip service — should embrace the Smith-Lipinski bill,” he wrote.

The legislation eventually will reach the Senate. Until then, life advocates are calling on senators to put pro-life provisions into the current spending resolutions. “One of the easiest ways to save money would be to stop sending it to abortion sellers,” said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst at CitizenLink, which is associated with Focus on the Family.