House Approves Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, Domestic Partnerships in DC
- Jul 21, 2009 -
Despite the best efforts of millions of people throughout the country, the House of Representatives approved the Financial Services Appropriations bill, H.R. 3170, last week. The bill, which funds the government of the District of Columbia, included a number of anti-family items.
The most offensive aspect of what the House did was to allow the District to use taxpayer funds to pay for abortion. Until now, the Dornan Amendment prevented this abuse, but H.R. 3170 guts that amendment. Pro-life congressmen tried numerous times to restore the ban on taxpayer funding for abortions, but liberals defeated every effort. D.C. already has one of the highest abortion rates in the nation. This bill will certainly make that rate higher.
In addition, the bill removes the ban on the use of taxpayer funds for domestic partnership benefits in D.C. In May, the District government voted to accept homosexual marriages performed in other states. With the House vote, D.C. will now have federal funds available to provide benefits to these couples.
Also, the House voted to provide funds for efforts to legalize marijuana in D.C. Right now, the District is prohibited from using taxpayer money to fund voter initiatives on medical marijuana or marijuana legalization. H.R. 3170 provides the means for those who want to weaken the District’s drug laws to use federal tax dollars to advance their efforts.
The ERLC and many other groups put considerable effort into defeating these anti-family policies. The final vote was closer than anyone expected, but the bill still passed with 219 for and 208 against. You might be interested to know who voted to use your tax dollars for these offensive policies. Of course, we aren’t surprised that liberals in the House voted for the bill. What disappoints us is the number of congressmen who claim to be conservatives who voted for it, including 30 so-called Blue Dog Democrats. In addition, four Republicans voted for it. One Republican voted present. Apparently, he couldn’t make up his mind about what family values are. Five other House members were not present during the vote. Some had good reasons for being absent, but you may want to ask them yourself. Here are the names:
Blue Dog Democrats Voting “Yes” (30)
Mike Arcuri (NY-24), Joe Baca (CA-43), John Barrow (GA-12), Marion Berry (AR-01), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Allen Boyd (FL-02), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Ben Chandler (KY-06), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Jim Costa (CA-20), Harry Cuellar (TX-28), Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08), Bart Gordon (TN-06), Jane Harman (CA-36), **Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-At Large), Tim Holden (PA-17), Frank Kratovil, Jr. (MD-01), Mike Michaud (ME-02), Walt Minnick (ID-01), Dennis Moore (KS-03), Patrick Murphy (PA-08), Earl Pomeroy (ND), John Salazar (CO-03), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Adam Schiff (CA-29), David Scott (GA-13), Zack Space (OH-18), John Tanner (TN-08), Mike Thompson (CA-01)
Republicans Voting “Yes” (4)
Shelley Capito (WV-02), Michael Castle (DE-At Large), Steven LaTourette (OH-14), John McHugh (NY-23)
Voted “Present” (1)
*Vern Buchanan (R-FL-13)
Not Voting (5)
*J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03), Frank Lucas (R-OK-03), Mike Pence (R-IN-06), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-07), Bobby Scott (D-VA-03)
*Southern Baptist
**Blue Dog Democrat Co-Chair for Administration
The ERLC will continue to fight every battle to preserve and protect godly values. We appreciate everyone’s partnership in prayer and advocacy on behalf of America’s families. May the Lord bless you and raise up more like you for His glory.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to monitor issues of public policy in America, such as the Financial Services Appropriations bill. If you would like to help us continue our efforts, please click here.
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