Congressional Update – July 2007

The three successful votes in the House of Representatives during debate of the fiscal year 2008 foreign assistance bill (H.R. 2764) represent tremendous breakthroughs for international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) issues in the new Congress. To put the two votes on the Global Gag Rule (GGR) in historical context, it was the first time that family planning advocates have won a clear-cut victory on a GGR amendment in the House since 1991.

The three amendments that were voted on by the House on June 21 were:

• Lowey (D-NY) amendment to modify the contraceptive exemption to the GGR contained in the committee-reported bill—adopted on vote of 223 to 201;
• Smith (R-NJ)-Stupak (D-MI) amendment that would have deleted the Lowey amendment from the bill—rejected on a vote of 205 to 218; and
• Pitts (R-PA) amendment that would have preserved the abstinence funding earmark by striking the provision nullifying the earmark in the committee-reported bill—rejected on a vote of 201 to 226.

In terms of the partisan breakdown, twelve Republicans voted for the pro-family planning position on both the Lowey and Smith-Stupak amendments. An additional four split their votes between the two amendments. Twenty-four Democrats opposed the contraceptive exemption to the GGR by opposing the Lowey amendment and supporting the Smith-Stupak motion to strike. Only one Democrat split his vote on the two amendments.

Thirty-eight of fifty-five new members—all Democrats—voted for the pro-RH position on all three amendments. Fifteen new members—all Republicans—voted for the anti-RH position on all three amendments. Two Democrats split their votes opposing the contraceptive exemption while supporting the removal of the abstinence earmark.

The voting records of a number of members show discrepancies between their votes on the contraceptive exemption and abstinence earmark but generally follow a clear pattern. Nine members, mostly Republicans, voted for both the Lowey and Pitts amendments. Alternately, twelve members, mostly con and swing Democrats (with one Republican) voted against both the Lowey and Pitts amendments.

Please take the time to thank those Members of Congress who voted in favor of international family planning and reproductive health – many took courageous stands and leadership roles, and the success is due to much hard work!.