Washington

Abortion battle intensifies

NOW THAT President Reagan has managed to push his tax and budget cuts through Congress, he intends to pursue some controversial social issues such as school busing, prayer in schools and abortion. But the fight over these issues will differ somewhat from the battle over his economic proposals. Reagan knew he could count on the Republicans in Congress to support his economic program, and he got directly involved in trying to persuade wavering Democrats to join him. But debate of the social issues does not fall along partisan lines, and Reagan cannot afford to become directly involved in a congressional fight that could rip apart the solid GOP ranks. Instead, Reagan will have others lead the fight for him. And on the abortion issue, one of his leaders undoubtedly will be the congressman whose name has become synonymous with the anti-abortion forces — Henry Hyde of Illinois.

In 1976, Hyde introduced an amendment to a fiscal 1977 appropriations bill for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare that would prohibit use of Medicaid funds for abortions. The House approved what has since become known as the Hyde amendment, but the more liberal Senate insisted that Medicaid funds be banned for abortions except in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or in cases of medical emergency. The Hyde amendment has been approved every year since then. It was challenged in the courts, but on June 30, 1980, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that neither the federal government nor the states are constitutionally required to fund abortions for poor women. That ruling upheld the Hyde amendment and gave new impetus to the anti-abortion forces.

In May of this year, Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.) eliminated the previous exceptions made for rape or incest and permitted federal aid only when the life of a mother was endangered. Congress accepted Helms' amendment, which remained in effect through September 30, 1981. It will almost certainly be renewed this year. But the big abortion battle will come later this year.

Hyde and Helms have introduced, in their respective chambers, the Human Life Bill, which would in effect overturn a 1973 Supreme Court ruling and outlaw all abortions. The bill would declare that human life begins at the moment of conception. Reagan expressed his support for the bill when he was asked March 6 at his second news conference if he would seek passage of a constitutional amendment banning abortion. If Congress determines a fetus is a human being, Reagan said, "then there isn't really any need for an amendment. Because once you have determined this, the Constitution already protects the right of human life." Hyde has been unable to get hearings on the bill in the Democratic-dominated House, so most of the action has taken place in the Senate.

Hearings were convened in May by Sen. John East (R., N.C.), a Helms protégé who is co-chairman of the Separation of Powers Subcommittee. Eight eminent physicians testified the bill was scientifically unjustifiable, reinforcing a resolution passed by the National Academy of Sciences that stated the bill's definition of life "cannot stand up to the scrutiny of science."

In addition, six former attorneys general signed a letter denouncing the bill as unconstitutional since Congress is not empowered to overturn Supreme Court decisions and the 1973 high court ruling, Roe v. Wade, gave women the constitutional right to abortion. One of those testifying in support of the bill was Dr. Mildred Jefferson of Boston University Medical School, a prominent figure in the Right-to-Life Movement. She insisted it is an established fact that life begins with the meeting of sperm and egg. Questions were also raised about the bill's effects on birth control. Under the definition of the bill, the use of either an intrauterine device or the pill would in effect become illegal, as both methods are believed to act after conception. The legality of amniocentesis, a procedure used to detect birth defects in unborn babies, would also come under question.

At the end of the hearings on June 18, Hyde called abortion "a sort of humane Holocaust of the unborn" and he praised East for withstanding "an incredible display of journalistic abuse." In response to charges of unconstitutionality, Hyde said there is "nothing wrong with a little congressional activism" to reverse the Supreme Court.

East's subcommittee approved the bill for consideration by the full committee with two minor changes. One new provision would provide for a speedy review by the Supreme Court; the other changed the wording from "Congress finds actual life begins at conception" to "Congress recognizes the potential life of an individual begins at conception."

The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it will be considered at the same time as a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Since a constitutional amendment would be harder to pass, Hyde's bill will probably win out this fall and become the major anti-abortion legislation in this session of Congress.

October 1981 | Illinois Issues | 33