House Votes $385 Million for Global Family Planning

The House on Thursday approved the release of $385 million in international family planning funds in the first abortion-related vote of the new Congress, handing abortion foes a rare legislative defeat.

“It’s a setback for the pro-life movement,” Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) conceded. “But I don’t think it’s a devastating blow.”

There are no strings attached to the funds, meaning that family planning groups whose services include promoting or performing abortions would be able to use the U.S. money for that purpose.

But Hyde and other antiabortion lawmakers won at least a symbolic victory just hours later when the House approved separate legislation that would prohibit the transfer of U.S. family planning funds to groups that provide abortion-related services. That bill, however, faces an uncertain future in the Senate and is strongly opposed by the Clinton administration.

Both measures now go to the Senate, which is expected to act before the end of this month.

The House vote to release the funds was 220 to 209, with many normally antiabortion members backing the measure--swayed by the argument that family planning can reduce unwanted pregnancies, and thus abortions.

Thursday’s action was a legacy of last year’s bitter budget battle, when conservatives tried to block all funding to international groups that encourage family planning. As a compromise worked out to get the budget passed, Congress voted to reduce the program by 35% and block any spending until July 1 of this year.

That agreement also provided for a vote this month to reconsider the matter and perhaps allow money to be released by March 1--provided President Clinton issued a finding that a further delay would have a negative effect on programs, which he did on Jan. 31.

It was that finding, in the form of a “privileged resolution,” that was approved by the House. Although Thursday’s vote does not restore any of the funds Congress cut out of the program last year, it does mean that international family-planning groups could get the money as much as four months earlier than allowed by the previous schedule.

The second measure approved by the House on a 231-194 vote was introduced by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.). A vote for the Smith bill was thought to provide political cover for antiabortion lawmakers who had also voted to release the family planning funds. For even if Smith’s bill is passed by the Senate, it faces a near-certain presidential veto.

If neither measure wins Senate approval, the funds will not be released until July 1.

Among Republicans voting to release the funds were Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, who said that any further delay would result in more abortions.

“By giving women the access to health services they so desperately need during their child-bearing years, we will help prevent thousands of maternal deaths,” Molinari said.

International funding for family planning is “an absolutely essential need in this world,” said Rep. Tom Campbell (R-San Jose).

But Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) spoke for many opponents of family planning funding when he called the move “a worldwide crusade” by the Clinton administration to promote abortions. “This is not altruism,” added Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.). “This is genocide.”

Among those who voted against his own record on the topic was Rep. Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio), normally an abortion foe. The delay in funding, Hall said on the House floor, has “gone too far.” He added that the absence of family planning leads to “unintended pregnancies and to more, rather than fewer, abortions.”

After the House approved his countermeasure, Smith met with reporters outside the chamber and tried to put the best interpretation on the day’s actions.

He acknowledged his “disappointment” at failing to block the release of the funds and said, “I’m not happy.”

Still, Smith added, he was heartened by the subsequent House vote to bar funds from family planning groups that promote or perform abortions--even if his measure is blocked by the Senate or vetoed by Clinton.

Smith said he and other antiabortion lawmakers intend to bring up the issue repeatedly in future spending bills. “We’re going to come back,” Smith vowed. “There is support and sentiment for it over here.”

The National Right to Life Committee issued a statement Thursday expressing its “regret” at the funding release, which it had strenuously fought. Douglas Johnson, the group’s legislative director, vowed to carry its campaign across the Capitol and urge the Senate to reject Clinton’s finding.

However, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America praised the release of the funds. “This is a wonderful victory for women and children worldwide,” said president Gloria Feldt.

Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said: “We are pleased that the House, which is solidly anti-choice, did vote to release the international family planning funds.”