Abortion Politics

Friday evening, the Senate was hurrying to wrap up business on a number of issues before the election. The Child Custody Protection Act, originally passed the Senate in July by a vote of 65-34.

The purpose of this bill was to prohibit an adult from transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of her having an abortion without notification of her parents. Polls have shown that ~80% of the public supports parental knowledge and involvement in an underage girl's abortion decision. Many people who would describe themselves as 'pro-choice' on abortion in general agree that this is a reasonable requirement. This would have been a good law that would have saved some unborn lives and protected some young girls from a most tragic experience.

Anyway, the Senate Democratic leadership then refused to appoint members to a conference committee to work out differences between the Senate bill and a similar House bill, effectively blocking action on the bill without going on record. Then the House passed a revised bill which included the Senate language thereby eliminating the need for a conference committee, but requiring one more Senate vote. Friday night's vote on 'cloture', required to end debate on a bill being filibustered, was 57-42, three votes shy of the 60 needed to go on to vote on the bill itself.

So what happened? Eight Democratic Senators who voted for the bill in July flip-flopped and effectively voted against it Friday night. (I guess they voted for the bill before voting against it.) Why? While I haven't seen any public statements and I cannot read their minds, I can only assume that the pro-abortion lobby that has so much influence in the Democratic Party pressured them into switching.

The eight who flip-flopped were Ken Salazar (Co.), Tom Carper (De.), Bill Nelson (Fl.), Daniel Inouye (Hi.), Evan Bayh (In.), Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan (both ND), and Herb Kohl (Wi). Four of these: Carper, Nelson, Conrad, and Kohl are up for re-election this November.

The best outcome would have been for the bill to become law but, at least for now, it hasn't. So was this a smart move politically for the Democrats, or have they handed a hot issue to the Republicans? Of course, the Old Media is not going to bring the issue up, but whether the GOP raises it or not, the grassroots prolife movement surely will.