Title: Veto -- or threat thereof -- prevails over majority as 102nd Congress adjourns.

POPLINE Document Number: 076413

Source citation:

WASHINGTON MEMO, 1992 Oct 12;(15):2-4.

Abstract:

In October 1992, the 102nd US Congress passed bills that would have restored the Title X family planning program and reversed the gag rule. But President Bush vetoed it and Congress could not override his veto. The House Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee supported an increase for Title X. Many congressional members worried about the political outcome if they supported controversial amendments to the Freedom of Choice Act, so Congress did not pass it. Congress increased funding of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) breast and cervical cancer screening program. It also passed a bill for more screening of chlamydia in CDC's sexually transmitted disease program. Congress also expanded funding for international population assistance, but this did not restore the US contribution to UNFPA and did not override policy set in Mexico City. President Bush's threat to veto any bills undoing the Administration's abortion stand prevented Congress from attaching any such moves to bills that needed to be passed, e.g., Congress did not send 2 defense bills to Bush which would allow privately funded abortions in military hospitals abroad. Yet both the Senate and the House did approve the dropped provision as a freestanding minibill, but they expected Bush to pocket veto it. The House Labor-HHS appropriations subcommittee dropped the Senate bill's section on allowing Medicaid abortion funding for rape or incest cases. Bush vetoed the appropriations bill for the District of Columbia permitting the city to use its funds to pay for abortions for poor women. Under threat of veto, Congress did not resubmit a bill reauthorizing the national institutes of Health to conduct some fetal tissue research and implementing a women's health initiative. The Senate tried to move a bill making health insurance more affordable to the House, but it did not include prenatal care, contraceptives, or reproductive health services. It passed legislation to decrease drug prices paid by family planning clinics.

Keywords:

United States
District of Columbia
Critique
Legislation
Political Factors
Abortion Law
Screening
Breast Cancer
Cervical Cancer
Chlamydia
Foreign Aid
Population Programs
Medical Assistance, Title 19
Fetal Tissue
Research Activities
Health Insurance
Pricing
Drugs
Military Personnel
CDC
USPHS
Abortion
North America
Americas
Developed Countries
Fertility Control, Postconception
Family Planning
Examinations and Diagnoses
Cancer
Neoplasms
Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Reproductive Tract Infections
Infections
Financial Activities
Economic Factors
Population Control
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Public Assistance
Financing, Government
Fetal Membranes
Fetus
Pregnancy
Reproduction
Research Methodology
Marketing
Treatment
Government
Government Agencies
Organizations