Anti Abortion Bill Has Sparked Uncommon Party Unity, Say House Dems

By Anna Cameron

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee took a final stand against H.R.3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, Wednesday during a media conference call with reporters. 

The GOP backed legislation, which Democrats have rebuked as an ‘assault on women’s health,’ is scheduled for a markup by the Republican-chaired House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

“We will be attempting to point [out] the many ways that this measure cuts deeply into personal choices and constitutionally protected health care decisions,” said ranking member John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.)

Though ten Democrats have supported H.R.3, the Congressmen spoke optimistically about the cohesion apparent among party members. 

“The vast majority of Democrats agree that this a massive overstep, that it is [an] extreme bill,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). “To say that out of 190-odd Democrats, you may get ten…who vote the wrong way, is an incredible amount of agreement for a party that historically doesn’t always march in lockstep.”

“This is about as much unity [as] we can get,” added Conyers.

“Even the members that signed on to the bill that were Democrats made it clear to the sponsors that the…rape and incest language…if [it] were not taken out, they were voting no on the bill,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) confirmed. 

The House Judiciary Committee markup is slated for 10:00 am Thursday.