What the 107th Congress Has Done So Far.

[Editor's Note: The congressional roll call votes on the key pro-life issues described below have been published in past editions of NRL News. Those votes, and many earlier votes, are now compiled in an easily readable format in the Legislative Action Center at the NRLC website, www.nrlc.org.]

WASHINGTON (June 10, 2002) - - The 107th Congress is more than three-quarters over. Because the Democrats hold a one-vote margin in the U.S. Senate, so far it has not been a very productive session for pro-life forces.

The Senate Democratic leadership and most of the Democratic senators are profoundly hostile to pro-life positions. They are the main barrier to enactment of numerous crucial pro-life measures that have passed or could pass the House of Representatives, and that are supported by the president.

As the Congress began in January 2001, pro-life forces had high hopes. After the eight grim years of the Clinton-Gore Administration, pro-life President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had been sworn in. The new Senate was equally divided between the parties, 50-50, but since Cheney would break any tie vote, Republicans retained majority control, with pro-life Senator Trent Lott (R-Ms.) as majority leader.

The Republicans also retained the majority control of the House that they have held since 1995 -- keeping scheduling power and most key leadership positions in the hands of pro-life lawmakers, including Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Il.), Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tx.), and Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R- Tx.).

Things started well. When President Bush nominated as attorney general John Ashcroft, previously a pro-life senator from Missouri, pro-abortion groups were among those urging the Senate to refuse to confirm him. But the Senate confirmed Ashcroft 58-42 on February 1, with eight Democrats joining all 50 Republicans in voting to confirm.

In the House, the top Republican leadership and House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wi.) rapidly pushed to the floor the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (H.R. 503), sponsored by Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). This bill, strongly backed by NRLC, would recognize an unborn child as a legal victim when he or she is injured or killed during commission of a federal crime of violence. Anti-life forces offered their own counterproposal, which would have recognized only one victim (the mother) in such crimes. The Bush Administration strongly opposed the "one victim" substitute and supported the unborn victims measure. On April 26, 2001, the pro-life side prevailed, as the House rejected the substitute, 196-229, and then passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 252-172.