SBA List Credits 'Pro-Life Muscle' with Passage of Department of Defense Authorization Bill Without Amendment Allowing Elective Abortion on Tax-Funded Military Bases

Contact: Kerry Brown, Susan B. Anthony List, 703-470-1926, kbrown@sba-list.org

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2010 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) celebrated the passage of a Department of Defense Authorization Bill without the pro-abortion Burris Amendment which would have allowed for elective abortions to be performed on taxpayer-funded domestic and international military bases. SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said:

"This is one more example of the increased muscle of the pro-life movement," said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Congress heard the pro-life grassroots activists' voices and kept abortion out of military medical facilities. It is time for the abortion industry to stop using the military as a place to advance its agenda."

 
To date, SBA List members have sent nearly 35,000 e-mails and have made over 4,000 calls urging the Senate to oppose any version of the Department of Defense Authorization bill containing the pro-abortion Burris Amendment.

Background

In May, Sen. Roland Burris added an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill in the Senate Armed Services Committee, allowing elective abortion on domestic and international military bases. The amendment would have gone further than Clinton's 1993 Executive Order which only allowed abortions on international military bases. Current law prohibits the performance of abortion by Department of Defense medical personnel or in Department of Defense medical facilities except when the life of the mother is at risk or when pregnancy results from rape or incest. A similar amendment to allow abortions strictly in overseas military facilities was most recently offered in the House in 2006 and failed by a vote of 191-237.

Last week the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6523, the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, which did not contain the Burris amendment. On Wednesday, December 22, the Senate passed the bill with amendments which the House later voted on and passed.

The Susan B. Anthony List spent $11 million during the 2010 midterm election cycle. Overall, the SBA List was involved in 90 races including 62 wins and 28 losses. Successes included: defeating 15 of 20 so-called "pro-life" Democrats who voted for abortion funding in the health care reform bill; increasing the number of pro-life women in the House by 70 percent; filling the void of pro-life women in the U.S. Senate and increasing the number of pro-life women governors from one to four.

For further information, please contact Kerry Brown at (703) 470-1926 or kbrown@sba-list.org.