Pro-life amendments blocked from consideration on House floor

Washington D.C., Feb 25, 2009 / 18:04 pm

Today, Congressman Chris Smith was prevented from offering two pro-life amendments to the $410 billion Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus spending bill being considered on the House floor.  His proposed amendments would have restored both the Mexico City Policy and the Kemp-Kasten policy.

 

After hearing Smith testify on his intended amendments last night, the Democrat House Rules Committee issued a closed rule that prohibited his propositions from consideration on the House floor, explained a statement from the congressman’s office.

 

The first amendment Smith wanted to implement would have restored the Mexico City Policy which prohibits U.S. taxpayer money from funding groups that promote or perform abortion in other countries, while allowing other family planning programs.  The policy was overturned by President Obama last month.

 

Smith called to mind the consequences of Obama’s decision, saying that by “nullifying the Mexico City Policy the number of innocent children forced to die from dismemberment, decapitation, or chemical poisoning by abortion will increase significantly, mostly in Africa and Latin America.”

 

“The pro-abortion organizations who will divvy up the $545 million pot of U.S. taxpayer grant money contained in today’s Omnibus bill have made it abundantly clear that they will aggressively promote, lobby, litigate and perform abortion on demand in developing countries.  My amendment would have prevented that from pushing abortions as a method of family planning.”

 

The second proposed amendment would have restored the Kemp-Kasten policy for all organizations, including the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Kemp-Kasten ensures that no U.S. taxpayer money goes to organizations that support or participate in forced sterilizations or forced abortion programs overseas.

 

“The U.N. Population Fund has actively supported, co-managed, and white-washed the most pervasive crimes against women in human history,” explained Smith, who is also former House chairman of the Human Rights committee. 

 

“China’s one-child-per-couple policy relies on pervasive, coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization, ruinous fines in amounts up to ten times the salary of both parents, imprisonment, and job loss or demotion to achieve its quotas. 

 

“And through it all, throughout the past three decades, the UN Population Fund has remained China’s chief apologist as well as population control program trainer, facilitator and funder.

 

UNFPA will be given $50 million from today’s Omnibus bill.

 

Congressman Smith also reprimanded the Democratic leaders for neglecting the human rights abuses against “Chinese women, children and the family.”

          

“So, how does Congress respond to the UNFPA’s complicity in China’s crimes against women?” Smith asked.  “Do we demand reform and protection of Chinese women and children? 

 

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“Heck no. We gut the anti-coercion law and write a $50 million check to the UNFPA,” Smith said, deriding the Omnibus allocation.