c.1997 Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON—Abortion rights advocates told Congress on Tuesdaythat there is no authoritative information about the number ofso-called partial-birth abortions performed every year or at whatpoint in their pregnancy women undergo the procedure.
Renee Chelian, president of the National Coalition of AbortionProviders, told a congressional hearing that these issues ``can'tbe pinned in a corner. There's no way to do that.''
Chelian and other abortion-rights advocates faced hostilequestioning from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and theHouse Judiciary Committee subcommittee on the Constitution at ajoint hearing entitled ``Partial-Birth Abortion: The Truth.''
``A great deal of misinformation has been disseminated aboutpartial-birth abortions,'' said Sen. Orrin Hatch 
, chairman of theSenate panel. Hatch said there has been ``a pattern of dissemblanceand deception by those who support abortion on demand and who donot want to ban this hideous procedure.''
The procedure, known in medical circles as intact dilation andextraction, involves partial delivery of the fetus, vacuuming outits brains and then removing the rest of the body from the birthcanal.
At the vortex of the controversy was Ron Fitzsimmons, executivedirector of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, whichrepresents more than 220 clinics.
Two weeks ago, Fitzsimmons said he had lied about the number ofthese abortions two years ago when he said only a few hundred ofthe procedures are performed in the last three months of pregnancyand then only to save a woman's life or to abort a deformed fetus.
Now, Fitzsimmons is saying that the number of partial-birthabortions is probably 3,000 to 5,000 a year, and that many are donein the fifth and sixth months of gestation and often for reasonsother than medical necessity.
Abortion foes have seized on Fitzsimmons' recantation to seeklegislation that would forbid the procedure. Last year, both theHouse and Senate voted to ban the procedure unless it was necessaryto save the life of the woman. President Clinton vetoed themeasure, saying he also wanted an exception for a woman's health.The House overrode the veto with four votes to spare, but theSenate fell nine votes short.
Chelian said she regretted Fitzsimmons' ``choice of words,''adding that no one has gathered data on the exact number ofpartial-birth abortions or why women seek them.
Chelian also told of ``risking my life'' having an illegalabortion at age 15, being taken blindfolded to a back alleyabortionist.
``It is presumptuous of you who can not get pregnant to makethese judgments,'' she said.
Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., said Chelian knew the information wasdeceptive, ``and it makes you feel like a dirty little abortionistwith a dirty little secret.''
At one point, Inglis tried to give a doll baby and a pair ofscissors to Chelian so she could demonstrate how the procedure isdone. That provoked a sharp rebuke from Rep. Maxine Waters,D-Calif., who interrupted to say witnesses don't have to acceptprops.
Rep. Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House JudiciaryCommittee, also referred to the scissors physicians may jam intothe neck of the fetus after its legs and arms are pulled out.
``Does anyone deny that that baby felt pain?'' Hyde said. ``Isuggest to you, you couldn't execute a convicted murderer byjamming scissors into the back of his neck. We're supposed to allbe for the little guy, there's no littler guy or girl than afour-fifths born baby.''
Rep. Charles T. Canady, R-Fla., pressed Vicki Saporta, executivedirector of the National Abortion Federation, to retract herearlier statements that the procedure is ``extremely rare'' anddone only in cases where the woman's life is in danger or in thecase of extreme fetal abnormality.
Saporta countered that she and others who support abortionrights made a good faith effort to come up with good numbers.
``We now have admitted that our original numbers appear to below, but they were the best numbers we had at the time ... Thereare no statistics that are kept by abortion type and we do not knowwhy they occur.''
Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation ofAmerica, said the numbers were artificially small because theyreferred only to partial-birth abortions in the last three monthsof pregnancy.
``The truth is that until recently, the framers of this debatetalked almost exclusively about late, third-trimester abortions andthat is what our responses addressed,'' she said.
Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion andReproductive Rights Action League, told the panel that theprocedure was ``rare.''
``Whether the number of women whose doctors recommend thisprocedure is five, five hundred or five thousand a year, each andevery one of these numbers represents the real life of anindividual woman ... And under your legislation, each and every oneof them would be denied the treatment her doctor believed to be thesafest and most appropriate for her.''
Michelman estimated there are between 300 and 600 partial-birthabortions in the last trimester of pregnancy each year.
Rep. Ed Bryant, R-Tenn., complained that abortion rightssupporters had lied to Congress. ``People stood on the House floorand used these facts and quoted these numbers from time to time,''he said.
But Sen. Edward Kennedy , D-Mass., insisted that ``very few of uswere misled as to the facts. I doubt very much that Congress wasmisled by anything that Mr. Fitzsimmons said.''
``The numbers are not the real issue,'' Kennedy said. ``The realissue is the way the proponents of this unconstitutional andunacceptable legislation are using this procedure to advance theiragenda to deny a woman's right to choose.''
Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., noted that ``only two of us onthis panel have given birth.''
She warned against banning the procedure, saying it would allowthe federal government to ``reach its long arm into someone'smedical procedure'' and allow a lawsuit to be brought against thedoctor performing the procedure.
``The only reason to pass it would be to erode a woman's rightto choose,'' she declared.
c.1997 Hearst Newspapers<
WASHINGTON—Once again Congress is being distracted fromserious national legislative business by the emotionally polarizedissue of so-called partial birth abortions, an uncommon butparticularly gruesome late-term procedure.
This is a deeply personal matter better left to doctors,ministers and women's own consciences. Our elected representativesshould not be spending their time and the taxpayers' dollars onprotracted, irreconcilable arguments on the subject.
We already went through this last year. Congress passedlegislation outlawing the operation, President Clinton vetoed it,and anti- abortion leaders vowed it would become a major campaignissue.
But GOP nominee Bob Dole, who had dismissed the president'sposition as based on ``some lame excuse,'' suddenly became worriedabout driving away female voters. He dropped the whole subject. Thepresident took most of the women's vote anyway.
The partial-birth issue, however, will not die so long aspowerful political forces, such as the Catholic Church and theChristian Coalition, are convinced that this is the best way tobegin slamming shut the limited constitutional right to an abortionthat the Supreme Court decreed nearly a quarter century ago.
These forces are also spurred by hints that momentum for theircause is stalling. The issue so divides the GOP that it threatensto tear the party apart unless some compromise is reached. And theHouse recently approved for the first time anadministration-supported move to restart a program of fundingoverseas family planning without the anti-abortion restrictionsthat have been in place since early in the Reagan administration.
Fresh questions about how often women resort to partial-birthabortions provide the immediate pretext for a renewed high-decibelcrusade against them. Following a joint House-Senate committeehearing Tuesday (March 11), the House will soon vote on anotherbill forbidding the procedure except to save the life of themother, and the Senate is expected to follow suit this spring.
But an argument based on shaky, unconfirmed statistics aboutwhether this involves 500 or 5,000 women out of a nation of 266million people is not really the point here. The central secularissue, as with most aspects of the abortion debate, is whether thepregnant woman or the fetus should have first claim on life andgood health.
The president's ``lame excuse'' decision came down firmly on theside of the woman. At his press conference last week, he reiteratedhis previous stand that he would okay a ban on the medicalprocedure only if it did not merely exempt a mother whose life wasendangered but if it protected her health and ability to havefuture children as well.
``For the small number of people I am trying to protect, this isthe biggest issue in their entire lives, and for them my positionis the pro-life position,'' Clinton said.
Scoffing anti-abortion forces charge that he is simply toadyingto selfish female voters by insisting on a health loophole thatwould in effect make the ban unenforceable. To soften the negativeimage of seeming cruel toward prospective mothers, the critics haveconcluded that most late-term abortions are not bona fide healthemergencies.
New York Cardinal John O'Connor claimed during mass on Sundaythat ``the vast majority'' of late-term abortions are performed``on the healthy babies of healthy women.'' He did not explain howhe could possibly know this, or why health-endangered women shouldbe denied the chance to protect themselves.
If frivolous feminine late-term abortions are the cardinal'sreal concern, however, how come he and other pro-life activistsdon't endorse the use of birth control pills or devices or the newafter-sex pill RU-486? All are useful tools to greatly reduce thelikelihood of those offensive late-term abortions, which theSupreme Court has stated may be restricted under certainconditions.
Artificial birth control pills and devices have a good trackrecord of preventing pregnancy, freeing women to control their ownlives and the size of their families without resorting to abortion.RU-486, recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration anddue to be distributed in this country by the end of the year, canpromptly terminate unwanted pregnancies before a fertilized eggbecomes a viable fetus.
But anti-abortion forces have fought them as immoral andimpermissible. The battle against birth control pills and deviceswas lost long ago. Polls repeatedly indicate that a majority ofCatholics as well as people of other religions use and approve ofthem.
The battle against RU-486 has just begun. When its creation wasannounced, pro-life forces threatened to boycott the products ofthe pharmaceutical company that developed it. The company thentransferred control over the pill to the Population Council, anonprofit organization that is fearlessly moving ahead to marketit.
Pro-lifers oppose RU-486 primarily because the pill can be takenin the privacy of a doctor's office, eliminating the opportunity topicket clinics and harass women seeking abortions. At last thedecision can be between a woman and her doctor, without moralizingand second-guessing from outsiders.
Then, finally, perhaps Congress will turn to other issues and goback to the full-time business of governing the country.
c.1997 The Boston Globe < She was once employed at the same Massachusetts abortion clinicas the poor young woman who became John Salvi's first victim thatsad afternoon when madness consumed a pathetic gunman and sent himcareening down a Brookline street leaving, two dead in his wake.She began work there as a secretary while she attended nursingschool and after gaining a degree, she went from handling atypewriter to handling actual human tissue. ``I'm ashamed to tell anybody today what I did,'' she says now. She is now employed as a school nurse. She is a mother of three.A wife. A woman of memory, conscience and deep regret that,combined with an eyewitness's logic, cause her to wonder whatwounds a culture suffers when it allows abortion to be obtained aseasily as a flu shot. ``I worked in the autoclave room. That is where they sterilizethe trays and the instruments after the procedure,'' she recalledthe other day. ``When the doctors finished, they would bring in a small metaltray. There would be a plastic container as well as the instrumentsused to perform the abortion on the tray. ``The instruments are called dilators. They are long metalsticks that are wider toward the end. Obviously, they are used todilate the women. ``My job was to sterilize the instruments. Then I would take theplastic container, which was filled with formaldehyde along withwhat they refer to as `the product of conception,' and label itbefore sending it out to some lab. ``After each abortion, the doctor would bring the tray to me,wrapped in sterilization paper, to be washed and labeled. I wouldclean the trays and utensils for the next procedure. ``We were not supposed to perform abortions past 12 weeks. Butit would—and did—happen that some women were aborted at 16 to20 weeks. ``When that would happen, I would find that the tray containedblood, tissue and bone. That happened quite a lot and anyone whosays it doesn't is lying. ``What would you do?'' she was asked. ``With the tissue, bone and blood?'' she wanted to know. ``Right,'' she was told. ``I'd dump it in the sink,'' she responded with a sigh. ``Justlike it was a disposal.'' All this was on her mind because of several events of the pastfew weeks involving a procedure some call partial-birth abortion, atopic due to hit the Congress and probably divide the nation againthis week. However, the term ``partial-birth'' is quite enough, allby itself, to lead many to believe it is both immoral as well asdangerous. Abortion is legal in America. It has also become so loosely andcasually available that too many regard it as no more of a nuisancethan root canal work. Unfortunately, the issue has been infected by politiciansworking both sides of the aisle, attempting to lure support of oneinterest group or another by increasing the venom in theirargument. And it has been marginalized by rabid advocates whoarrogantly call themselves ``pro-choice'' or ``pro-life'' andfigure they have an absolute lock on truth. Yet the real truth is probably uglier than either side figures:There is no doubt that some women today make a decision to abortbased on lifestyle rather than health. That is one of theinevitable consequences of a culture that sometimes seems dedicatedto the corruption of older, established values like family, God,religion and patriotism. ``Tissue, bone and blood,'' the woman remembered. ``The firsttime I saw it, I said, `Oh my God!' And then I washed it away downthe sink. ``I'm ashamed I actually did that. I still think about it today.It's why I quit. ``Tissue, bone and blood,'' she repeated. ``That's not life?'' Of course it's life. But one side won't be happy until abortionis available up until delivery day while the other won't rest solong as a single women in America is able to obtain one, no matterher reason. It seems that consensus might be impossible because, inthe end, conscience endures. < (Mike Barnicle is a columnist for the Boston Globe.) A0847 BC-GRAPHICS-EARLY-BUDGET-NYT 298 15:29 U V A0802 BC-SCIENCE-BUDGET-NYT 598 15:10 U V The New York Times News Service will be moving the followingscience stories A0780 AM-ADD-NYT-BUDGET 745 14:53 U V A0728 BC-HEARST-NEWS-BUDGET-HNS 312 14:11 U V Monday, March 10, 1997 A0707 BC-BUDGET-FEATURE-SPI 216 14:00 U V The Seattle Post-Intelligencer plans to move the following forclients of th A0621 BC-FEATURE-BUDGET-ART-BOS 668 13:27 U V ART ADV.: Photos with OLDER-COLUMN and STAGE-RASHAD are beingtransmitted to NYT A0606 AM-NYT-BUDGET 681 13:14 U V (gm) A0546 NYTR-WASH-ADVANCE 254 12:34 U V March 10, 1997 A0501 NYTR-TAL-WEEKLY-BUD 300 12:07 U V A0437 BC-HEARST-FEATURE-BUDGET-HNS 623 10:58 U V Monday, March 10, 1997 A0395 BC-PHOTO-LITE-CLIENTS-NYT 489 10:09 U V A0299 BC-R-REVIEW-BUDGET-NYT 244 09:06 U V A0241 BC-GREETINGS-NYT 245 07:05 U V EDITORS: NATIONAL GENERAL A1503 BC-RAPPER-SLAYING-LADN 517 00:08 R A NO CLUES IN RAPPER'S MURDER A1501 BC-TRANSPLANT-FRIENDS-SPI 961 23:58 R A COLLEAGUE GETS KIDNEY IN UNUSUAL TYPE OF TRANSPLANT A1498 BC-NY-COCAINE-SEIZURE-NYT 494 23:47 U A SEIZURE OF COCAINE IN TRUCK IS N.Y. CITY'S LARGEST THIS DECADE A1490 BC-NYC-BABY-LAWSUIT-NYT 531 23:27 U A BRAIN-DAMAGED CHILD WINS SUIT AGAINST CITY HOSPITAL A1491 BC-NY-ENVIRON-LANDFILL-NYT 348 23:28 U A CRITICS SAY PATAKI PLAYED FAVORITE IN LANDFILL CLEANUP A1489 BC-EDUC-REFORM-NYT 441 23:26 U A (ATTN.: Calif., Fla. Ill., Mo.) A1484 BC-NY-ENVIRON-BONDS-425-&ADD-NYT 820 23:14 U A N.Y. GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS A1481 BC-LAPD-SUCCESSOR-LADN 632 23:10 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors.) A1476 BC-CONN-SCHOOLS-TAKEOVER-NYT 813 23:00 U A HARTFORD SEEKS STATE ROLE IN MANAGING SCHOOL DISTRICT A1478 BC-NY-BATTERED-WOMAN-NYT 407 23:01 U A BATTERED WOMAN ALLOWED TO SUE FOR LONG-PAST ABUSE A1474 BC-LAPD-LEGACY-1stLDWritethru-LADN 775 22:59 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors. Attributes quote in 21stgraph.) A1475 BC-NJ-SCHOOL-STABBING-ARREST-400&ADD-NYT 945 23:00 U A ARREST MADE IN STABBINGS OF BAYONNE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS A1473 BC-OBIT-KIPPENBERGER-NYT 690 22:59 U A MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, 43, LEADING GERMAN ARTIST A1471 BC-NYC-COL-DEMS-NYT 1031 22:56 U A COMMENTARY: DEMOCRATS MOURN FINK AND A LACK OF PROSPECTS A1467 BC-LAPD-REACT-LADN 772 22:50 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors.) A1465 BC-NY-RESTAURANT-CARTELS-2NDTAKE-NYT 714 22:48 U A NEW YORK: of continuity.'' A1464 BC-NY-RESTAURANT-CARTELS-900(2TAKES)-NYT 973 22:47 U A THE NEXT COURSE FOR THE RESTAURATEUR A1462 BC-NY-ROADBLOCKS-NYT 691 22:43 U A A POLICE UNION SEEKS TO HAVE ROADBLOCKS RULED ILLEGAL A1460 BC-LAPD-LEGACY-LADN 757 22:40 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors.) A1457 BC-NY-MAFIA-MURDER-NYT 393 22:35 U A MURDER CONVICTIONS AGAINST 2 MAFIA FIGURES UPHELD A1453 BC-NY-SPYSHOP-TRIAL-NYT 630 22:31 U A (ATTN.: Texas) A1450 BC-PEOPLE-BRIEFS-NYT 500 22:29 U A FACULTY HONORS BROWN UNIVERSITY HEAD A1451 BC-LAPD-CHIEF-2ndTake-LADN 861 22:29 R A LOS ANGELES: as ``window dressing.'' A1449 BC-NY-ABORTION-NYT 440 22:28 U A STATE SENATE VOTES TO BAN ONE TYPE OF ABORTION PROCEDURE A1448 BC-LAPD-CHIEF-2Takes-LADN 869 22:28 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors.) A1439 BC-QUOTE-OF-THE-DAY-NYT 74 22:16 R A QUOTATION OF THE DAY A1438 BC-PA-MURDER-CASE-NYT 226 22:15 U A MISCONDUCT ALLEGED IN EX-JOURNALIST CASE A1436 BC-DRUG-MONEY-HNS 715 22:09 U A U.S. PROSECUTORS OPEN THEIR CASE TO CONFISCATE $9 MILLION FROMFORMER MEXICAN DR A1435 BC-SCI-WESTINGHOUSE-AWARDS-NYT 690 22:09 U A (ATTN: Calif., Mont., Texas, Colo.) A1432 BC-LAPD-COMMUNITY-LADN 729 22:01 R A (Attention Philadelphia editors.) A1426 BC-PHOTO-FULL-UPDATE-NYT 1451 21:55 U A A1415 BC-GRAPHICS-FILES-NYT 218 21:49 U A A1411 BC-HEALTH-COLUMN-COX 562 21:47 U A KIDS AND FAMILY: USE CARE IN CHOOSING DOCTOR, DENTIST REFERRALS,VISITS A1408 BC-TEXAS-DAYCARE-COX 637 21:46 U A ATTN: Texas Editors. A1405 BC-CLINTON-GOLFING-COX 517 21:43 U A ATTN: Sports Editors. A1400 BC-NY-DIPLOMATS-TICKETS-ART-550&ADD-NYT 923 21:39 U A (ATTN.: Russia) A1401 BC-GOVERNOR-BABY-SPI 787 21:40 R A WASHINGTON GOVERNOR HAS A NEW BABY DAUGHTER A1385 BC-OLEMISS-MINDSET-ART-700(2TAKES)-NYT 751 21:25 U A UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI IS RETHINKING ITS IMAGES A1386 BC-OLEMISS-MINDSET-ART-2NDTAKE-NYT 795 21:25 U A OXFORD, Miss.: he said. A1382 BC-NY-GIRL'S-FUNERAL-NYT 530 21:22 U A THOUSANDS MOURN FOR SCHOOLGIRL KILLED BY FALLEN TREE A1380 BC-NY-WELFARE-REFORM-2NDTAKE-NYT 510 21:21 U A ALBANY, N.Y.: right now.'' A1379 BC-NY-WELFARE-REFORM-876(2TAKES)-NYT 903 21:21 U A REPUBLICAN ALLIES ARE SLOWING PATAKI'S PLAN FOR WELFARE REFORM A1377 BC-DRUG-MONEY-LAUNDERING-500(2TAKES)-NYT 542 21:19 U A (ATTN.: Colombia) A1378 BC-DRUG-MONEY-LAUNDERING-2NDTAKE-NYT 623 21:19 U A NEW YORK: money-laundering fraud. A1371 BC-LAPD-CHIEF-655&ADD-NYT 1033 21:14 U A L.A. POLICE CHIEF WILL BE LET GO A1370 BC-ELIMINATE-SEX-SELECTION-BOS 30 21:12 U A ATTN EDITORS: A1364 BC-ELIMINATE-SCI-CLONE-NYT 35 21:07 U A (pr) A1358 BC-ELIMINATE-IMMIGRANT-MARRIAGES-HNS 41 21:04 U A Monday, March 10, 1997 A1356 BC-LEAH-PERSONALS-SFCHRON 762 21:02 R A (Eds: This story also moved in the ``l'' lifestyle file) A1355 BC-LEAH-PERSONALS-SFCHRON 762 21:02 R A (Eds: This story also moved in the ``l'' lifestyle file) A1350 BC-PRISONERS-STUNBELTS-ART-829(2TAKES)-NYT 907 20:58 U A (ATTN: Md., Wisc., Ala., Ariz., Fla., Ohio) A1351 BC-PRISONERS-STUNBELTS-ART-2NDTAKE-NYT 881 20:59 U A CENTREVILLE, Md.: to you.'' A1335 BC-OHIO-FLOODS-ART-NYT 985 20:44 U A (ATTN: Ky., Ind., Tenn., W.Va., Ind.) A1305 BC-STAPLES-OFCDEPOT-COX 801 20:12 U AA NURSE WONDERS
By MIKE BARNICLE
c.1997 Cox News Service
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ATTN: Texas Editors.
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2 VETERAN POLICE OFFICERS INDICTED IN BOSTON
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ONCE-RARE GENETIC DISORDER HAS BECOME MORE COMMON, DEADLY
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1 CADET DISMISSED, 9 OTHERS DISCIPLINED IN CITADEL HARASSMENTCASE
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BAY STATE TO STUDY CLONING
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POLICE COMMISSIONER BLEEDS `A LITTLE BLUE'
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(ATTN: Ga.)
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PIERRE M. GALLETTI, EXPERT ON ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, AT 69
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Adding Sex-Selection (a), eliminating TWA-Missile (a)
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HALE-BOPP AVAILABLE FOR EVENING VIEWING
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N.H. GOVERNOR RIDES TO MT. WASHINGTON SUMMIT
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Adding Sex-Selection (a)
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GIGANTIC STAR DISCOVERED
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For Release TUESDAY AMs, March 11, 1997
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BEFORE BIRDS, A WEIRD WAY TO FLY
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SINGLE-CELLED PARASITES COULD BE TARGETS FOR NEW DRUG TREATMENTS
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UNDATED: with yet.''
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BALTIMORE: of ideas.''
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NEW START FOR BESIEGED SCIENTIST
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(ATTN: S.C., N.C., Mass.)
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UNDATED: organized trade.
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PASCAGOULA, Miss.: often interview them.
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IN MISSISSIPPI, THEY CALL HIM TEFLON
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PASCAGOULA, Miss.: for five months.
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UNDATED: a year.''
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ANIMAL RENDERING PLANTS MAY BE CAUSE OF MAD COW OUTBREAK
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GIANT LAW FIRM FACES AGE DISCRIMINATION SUIT BY SECRETARIES
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`BIGGEST LITTLE CITY' IS DEBATING GROWTH
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WEATHER
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DOG PULLS OFF RARE ACT, STUDIES AND MIMICS OWNER'S EVERY MOVE
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(Repeating for all needing)
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WASHINGTON: global basis.''
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AS MORE SHARKS WIND UP ON PLATES, NEED FOR PROTECTION RISES
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A POTPOURRI FOR HOME OR HOME OFFICE
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CONFERENCE PANEL IMAGINES THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING
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SWAYING BUILDINGS
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WHEN A KISS ISN'T JUST A KISS
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THIS COMPUTER IS NO PAWN
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RELIGIOUS GROUPS PRESSURE BUSINESS ON CHINESE RIGHTS
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AT LAST, SOME NOTICE FOR LYMPHEDEMA
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PLANTS DO THE DIRTY WORK IN TOXIC CLEANUPS
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NEW DOCTORS BECOMING GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
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ICONS OF SOUTH FALL AS MODERN VALUES COLLIDE WITH THE PAST
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CAMELS CONSERVE WATER
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CHANGE OF COMMAND AT THE VERMONT NATIONAL GUARD
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GORE ENLISTS CALIFORNIAN TO RECRUIT EDUCATION TEAM
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LIZARD WAS FIRST TO FLY
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BOCA RATON, Fla.: ... divulge his whereabouts.
A0611 BC-DRAFT-HORSES-HNS 473 13:21 R A
TWO ROVING RUSSIANS ON A GYPSY WAGON TOUT WORK OF DRAFT HORSES
A0591 BC-INTERNMENT-REDRESS-HNS 520 13:00 U A
FUND IS CREATED TO TELL THE STORY OF JAPANESE-AMERICANINTERNMENT
A0592 BC-INTERNMENT-REDRESS-HNS 635 13:01 U A
FUND IS CREATED TO TELL THE STORY OF JAPANESE-AMERICANINTERNMENT
A0396 BC-PHOTO-LITE-CLIENTS-NYT 489 10:10 U A
A0320 BC-R-THISWEEK-REVIEW-2TAKES-NYT 932 09:21 U A
The Week in Review
A0321 BC-R-THISWEEK-REVIEW-2NDTAKE-NYT 1034 09:22 U A
UNDATED: ALAN COWELL
A0319 BC-R-BULLFIGHTING-REVIEW-NYT 613 09:20 U A
MACHISMO VS. MONEY: WHOSE BULL IS GORED?
A0309 BC-R-RESPONSIBILITY-REVIEW-NYT 1052 09:12 U A
(budgeted earlier as U.S.-POLITICS-REVIEW)
A0310 BC-R-ISRAEL-BAGELS-REVIEW-NYT 730 09:13 U A
AMERICAN FAST FOOD IN ISRAEL: THE BAGEL
A0307 BC-R-CHINA-U.S.-REVIEW-2TAKES-NYT 951 09:11 U A
(originally budgeted as CHINA-POLICY-REVIEW)
A0308 BC-R-CHINA-U.S.-REVIEW-2NDTAKE-NYT 352 09:12 U A
WASHINGTON: his piece.
A0305 BC-R-HEALTH-REVIEW-NYT 1161 09:09 U A
IT'S CALLED POOR HEALTH FOR A REASON
A0304 BC-R-ENERGY-REVIEW-NYT 1048 09:09 U A
(ATTN: Calif., Texas)
A0302 BC-R-ABORTION-REVIEW-2NDTAKE-NYT 411 09:08 U A
UNDATED: about abortion.
A0301 BC-R-ABORTION-REVIEW-2TAKES-NYT 866 09:07 U A
YIELDING NOT AN INCH: THE PARTIAL-TRUTH ABORTION FIGHT
A0300 BC-R-LOTTERIES-REVIEW-NYT 431 09:07 U A
(ATTN: N.Y., Va., Pa.)
A0297 BC-R-CROSS-DRESS-REVIEW-2NDTAKE-NYT 478 09:05 U A
UNDATED: or powerful.
A0298 BC-R-INTERNET-REVIEW-NYT 780 09:06 U A
WHEN BIG BROTHER IS A LIBRARIAN
A0292 BC-R-GINGRICH-REVIEW-2NDTAKE-NYT 661 09:04 U A
WASHINGTON: kindred soul.
A0296 BC-R-CROSS-DRESS-REVIEW-2TAKES-NYT 561 09:05 U A
YOUR MOM WEARS COMBAT BOOTS
A0291 BC-R-GINGRICH-REVIEW-2TAKES-NYT 533 09:04 U A
FORMER ALLIES TORMENT GINGRICH
nn
c.1997 N.Y. Times News Service=
WASHINGTON—For nearly five hours, lawmakers and witnessesargued in a tense hearing Tuesday over what critics callpartial-birth abortion, with virtually no meeting of the minds on asubject in which facts remain elusive.
In first full congressional airing of the issue this year, thetwo sides agreed on almost nothing, what the procedure should becalled, the reasons it is performed, when it is performed andwhether it should be performed. They could not even agree onwhether the whole debate was confusing to the public. Rep. JohnConyers Jr., D-Mich., called the proceeding an ``endurancecontest.''
The hearing was also marked by unusually bitter personalexchanges, including one in which Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., pointedlycalled the four abortion-rights proponents at the witness table``very hardened, very cold and very callous'' and said they had``become so blinded by legalisms and legality and process that youreally have developed, I'm sad to say, a moral blind spot.''
In response, Renee Chelian, president of the National Coalitionof Abortion Providers, told Barr, after having to fight for hisattention, ``I hope to God I never ever get to that moral highground that you are on where you can sit and look at another personand judge them.''
The joint hearing of the House and Senate Judiciary committeesprovided both a flashback to last year's intractable congressionaldebate on the subject and a likely preview of the one to come.
The House Judiciary Committee is to vote Wednesday on a measurethat would ban the procedure, known medically as intact dilationand extraction, except to save the life of the woman. It would alsoimpose on the doctor a maximum penalty of $250,000 in fines and twoyears in prison. And it would hold anyone liable who assisted. Thefull House is to vote next week, and the Senate by the end of themonth.
Both houses are expected to pass the ban, as they did last year,and send it to President Clinton before Easter. Clinton hasindicated that he will again veto the measure because it does notprovide an exception for protecting a woman's health.
The question is whether recent statements by an abortionprovider—saying he lied about the rarity of the procedure _changed the political dynamics enough so that Congress couldoverride a veto. The House had enough votes last year to do so, butthe Senate did not.
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who heads the House JudiciaryCommittee, opened with a personal elegy on pain and how ``manvisits pain on fellow men.'' Describing the procedure—in whichthe fetus is partially delivered before scissors are stuck into itsskull and the brains are sucked out to collapse the head so therest of the body can be pulled out—Hyde said: ``You could notexecute a convicted murderer by jamming scissors in the back of theneck.''
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said the bill wasunconstitutional because, contrary to Supreme Court rulings, itwould not allow the procedure to protect the health of the woman.
Whether the procedure is ever medically necessary was in disputethroughout the hearing and provided a good example of how elusivethe facts were.
Helen Alvare, a lawyer for the National Conference of CatholicBishops, said assertions that the procedure was ever medicallynecessary had ``been definitively and unequivocally refuted byhundreds of medical experts.''
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said, ``Clearly there are medicaldisagreements about whether this procedure is the best approach forcertain patients.''
He quoted the American College of Obstetricians andGynecologists as saying that while the college ``could identify nocircumstances under which the procedure would be the only option,it may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particularcircumstance.''
Asked whether anyone would ban the procedure knowing that anattending physician decided it was the best option, DouglasJohnson, the lobbyist for the National Right to Life Committee,said he would. Ms. Alvare agreed, saying, ``There isn't a situationin which one could argue that absolutely in order to protect thelife of the mother one would have to deliver a child and then killit.''
Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion andReproductive Rights Action League, said, ``We're not in thebusiness of endorsing one procedure over another.''
She added: ``The fundamental issue is whether Congress andpoliticians and government officials should be dictating medicalpractice or medical procedures. Also what's at issue is, of course,not a small matter: women's constitutional right to privacy and theprotection of women's health.''
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., disagreed. Not debating theprocedure, he said, would allow ``the most barbaric doctors'' tomake these decisions on their own, which is ``to abandon moralstandards in a civilized society.''<
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