Boxer Drops Abortion Vote

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Thursday that rather than risk defeat, she decided not to seek to repeal a law that made it easier for healthcare organizations to refuse to provide abortions and related services.

Boxer’s decision underscored how carefully abortion rights advocates were picking their fights since Republicans expanded their Senate majority in November’s election.

Last year, Boxer threatened to filibuster a giant federal spending bill because it included the abortion-related measure. At that time, she backed down after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) promised her that the chamber would hold a vote on repealing the measure by April 30.

With that deadline approaching, Frist told Boxer she could bring her repeal bill to the floor on Thursday.

In an interview, Boxer said she declined the vote for several reasons, including her fear she might lose.

“My vote count was indecisive and being strategic as I am, I’d rather play it safe,” she said.

Boxer also said she was hopeful that court challenges to the law -- including one brought by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer -- might overturn the measure.

Signed into law Dec. 8 by President Bush as part of the federal spending bill, the measure limits the ability of federal, state and local governments to require that hospitals and health maintenance organizations provide abortion services or referrals. Supporters say it protects healthcare providers who choose not to perform abortions.

Under the measure, government agencies cannot discriminate against a healthcare provider that refuses to provide or fund abortions or refer patients to someone who does.

Boxer noted that the measure, known as the “conscience clause,” expired in less than six months, when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

She said that other senators had promised to work with her to block the measure’s inclusion or modify its language in the 2006 appropriations bill.

Abortion opponents said Thursday that in deciding not to push for repeal of the measure, Boxer recognized the political realities of the Senate, where those opposing abortion rights had grown in strength in recent years.

“I think she concluded that the Senate would vote against requiring healthcare providers to participate in abortions,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, an antiabortion organization.

Abortion rights advocates said they supported Boxer’s decision not to seek the repeal vote.

“We believe that the strategy to address it later, in the context of the next appropriations bill, is a good one,” said Mary-Jane Wagle, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. “And we also agree that the suits that have been filed, particularly in California ... will prevail in the courts.”