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Show JL ! -' M WMMM l i Fim, --tiTiTi ' ii ' i V J The annual abortion debate Over the past number of years Congress, Con-gress, caught in the annual turmoil concerning con-cerning the funding of abortions for welfare mothers, has failed to pay its employees. This year millions of civil servants and military personnel agonized agoniz-ed about where money would come :rom to pay the bill collectors, while the U.S. Senate and House debated, once again, whether to withhold funds for abortions altogether, or allow the practice prac-tice under certain circumstances. The Senate supports the funding qf the abortion when the life of the mother is in danger or in the cases of rape and incest. In addition, the Senate approves of a proviso which allows abortions for medical reasons as determined by a physician. The House, on the other hand, wants no tax dollars used for abortion under any circumstances. The Congress has from the first week in January until the last week in September each year to resolve these differences. But for the last three sessions ses-sions time has run out. The abortion iccno ic attai'hpri tn thp annrnnrifl Hnns u uhmx.... m bill because funding is set aside in the measure for the abortions by HEW. Through a combination of social advocacy ad-vocacy by HEW and a group of "abortion "abor-tion for the poor" congressmen and senators, government employees are held as a ransom in order to get ap-. proval on the bill. The. House, which elects a new body CAPITOL WATCHDOG By Bill Hendrix every two years, is particularly sensitive sen-sitive to taxpayer dissatisfaction in using us-ing tax revenue to fund a practice which is widely held as morally unacceptable. unac-ceptable. The Senate, however, is never elected collectively and each member serves for six years. Senators are, therefore, removed from the electorate and can support unpopular issues in the early days of their terms disavowing them before the next campaign. With several million federal employees screaming together for their paychecks, the pressure on the stubborn stub-born Representatives during the debate pressure to withdraw from the hardline stance becomes intense. As a result, the House has reluctantly accepted the more liberal Senate version of abortion funding each year. You see federal employees are voters too. They are much more interested in their paychecks than in the social debate over abortion for the poor. After the debate this year Congress responded to the pressure tactics with the introduction of a measure which will continue funding for government through the end of one fiscal year and into the next, without the approval of Congress. If passed, holding federal employees hostage to promote a particular par-ticular issue will not be possible. " Perhaps then the annual abortion debate can be resolved once and for all outside of the "pressure cooker" atmosphere. |