Bankruptcy Bill Is Arena for Abortion Fight -NYT

[Rose Siding]

A bankruptcy bill pending before the Senate is about to provide a forum for the first abortion battle of the new Congress, and how it plays out could set the stage for much larger fights over abortion restrictions and judicial nominees, including perhaps a nominee to the Supreme Court.

At issue is a proposed amendment intended to deny bankruptcy protection to protesters who use violence to shut down abortion clinics. The measure is expected to come up for a vote on Tuesday before a Senate with an expanded Republican majority that includes some of the most ardent abortion opponents in American politics.

"This is the first major pro-choice amendment to come up in this Congress," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, the author of the measure. "It's the first test of how difficult the fight to maintain choice is going to be."
...
In a sense, the bankruptcy amendment is a practice step that will put lawmakers on record, telling abortion rights advocates how much support they still have on Capitol Hill. It comes as abortion opponents are newly energized by the November elections, which put seven Republican freshmen in the Senate, including strong opponents of abortion like Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a doctor who made news by saying abortion doctors should get the death penalty, and John Thune of South Dakota, who made opposition to abortion a theme of his campaign.

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/08/politics/08abort.html

[MrPrax]

1. Don't YOU Get Tired of this Shit...?

So when is the Wall coming down...

Would a real journalist ever write an ender like, 'includes some of most ardent abortion opponents in American politics'?

[Rose Siding]

2. Yes, but Schumer's amend. forces repubs to side with terrorists

It could drive the moderates to rethink themselves.

snip>
The vote will be close, and some Democrats privately disagree with Ms. Saporta's assessment. The amendment needs 51 votes to pass; Mr. Schumer said 47 senators supported it, 48 were opposed and 5 undecided. Some Republican senators who have voted for it in the past, including Ted Stevens of Alaska and Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, now say they will oppose the measure, if only because they believe it could kill the underlying bankruptcy bill.

Mr. Schumer's measure grew out of a 1994 federal law that bans the use of force, threats or blockades to keep patients out of abortion clinics. The law allows clinics to sue protesters who block clinic doors, but some protesters have filed for bankruptcy to escape paying court-imposed fines. The amendment has previously passed the Senate, but in 2002, abortion opponents in the House doomed the entire bankruptcy bill rather than vote for it.

[renaissanceguy]

3. Not if they label US as the terrorists

killing "babies" and feeding them to our families.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.16778943

[DeepModem Mom]

4. kick