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Surprise: GOP Finds a Way to Work Anti-Abortion Language into Human Trafficking Bill

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 17:42

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(Before It's News)

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Congressional Republicans have clearly decided of late to make it one of their trademark moves to slip language about unrelated yet (to them) desired provisions they would like to enact into drafts of proposed bills that are making their way through the legislative process.

This handy tactic can be used to make sure Democrats have a hard time passing measures they’re keen to see through to signing, potentially bringing Capitol Hill to another threatened standstill, or, as it happened in this most recent instance, it can stall the progress of an otherwise uncontroversial bill.

Here’s what happened in Washington on Tuesday, as per The Huffington Post:

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), creates a fund to help victims by using fees charged to traffickers. It easily passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support late last month.

But Democrats learned this week that the legislation contains Hyde Amendment language, which restricts federal funding for abortion and other health care services. They’re vowing to hold up the entire bill until the controversial provision is removed.

“These provisions, my caucus did not know about,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Tuesday. “The bill will not come off this floor as long as that [abortion] language is in it.”

Even Democrats on the Judiciary Committee said they had no idea the abortion provision was in the bill. Some suggested they had been misled.

Passing the human trafficking bill as it currently stands would effectively mean keeping abortion restrictions in place for five years, so it’s back to the drawing board for this one, it would seem.

—Posted by Kasia Anderson

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