NATION : Bush Will Veto Rape and Incest Abortion Bill, White House Says
President Bush will veto a bill allowing federally financed abortions in cases of rape and incest after giving up efforts to find a compromise, his spokesman said today.
White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the provision, part of a spending bill already approved by a House-Senate conference committee and the full House, will be vetoed once it wins final Senate approval.
The White House had previously hinted that a veto was likely. Today, Fitzwater said it flatly.
The White House abandoned the bid for a compromise after Chief of Staff John H. Sununu met for a second day Monday with leading anti-abortion congressmen.
“We talked to people on all sides of the issue. . . . We couldn’t find any flexibility,” Fitzwater said today.
Bush last week he said he was seeking “room for flexibility” to avert a veto.
Congressional Democratic leaders have already conceded that they do not have enough votes to override a veto of the measure, which has already passed the House.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
