CA Atty General sues US over abortion law
 

Bill Lockyer sues US over abortion law

HAH! I hope he wins!

Lockyer sues U.S. over abortion law
The measure signed by Bush threatens $49 billion in state health care funding.
By Andy Furillo -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 26, 2005
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed suit Tuesday to stop the Bush administration from linking a federal spending package to the abortion policies of state and local governments.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, challenges the Hyde-Weldon Amendment signed by President Bush last month as part of a major appropriations bill. Written by Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., the amendment cuts off federal funding to agencies that practice "discrimination" against anti-abortion health care providers.



Lockyer was joined in the action by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. The two Democrats are charging that the Hyde-Weldon Amendment threatens the $49 billion in the 2005 health and human services appropriations bill destined for California, while at the same time potentially preventing women in emergency situations from getting abortions at some hospitals and by some providers who refuse to perform the procedure.

"Equality for women is illusory unless they can make their own health care decisions," Lockyer said. "With the Weldon amendment, President Bush and Congress are denying women that freedom."

Weldon said his amendment "in no way infringes" on a woman's right to an abortion. Instead, Weldon said in a statement, it says only that "you can't force the unwilling" to perform them.

"Mr. Lockyer seems anxious to preserve California's right to coerce such unwilling providers into performing abortions," Weldon said.

The White House deferred comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, where a spokesman said the case is being reviewed.

Nancy Keenan, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America, called Bush's signing of the amendment a "sneak attack on a woman's right to choose."

"I'm glad Attorney General Lockyer is taking action to make sure the nation's largest state can continue to ensure that women control their own private medical decisions," Keenan said in a prepared statement.

The one-paragraph amendment says that no money flowing out of Washington can be allocated to state or local agencies that discriminate in funding decisions against health care providers who refuse to participate in abortions.

Under current California law, anti-abortion hospitals and practitioners, in emergency situations, must "provide health care that is life-saving," Lockyer said, or refer the patient in a timely fashion to another medical facility with no abortion qualms.

"Either of those laws violates the congressional ban," Lockyer said.

Lockyer's suit says all $49 billion in health and human services funds coming into California could be cut off under the Hyde-Weldon Amendment if the state blocked funding to a hospital or health care practitioner who refused to perform an emergency abortion.

The suit, which is seeking to have the Hyde-Weldon Amendment declared unconstitutional, could raise the prominence of the abortion issue in Lockyer's expected campaign for governor next year.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who supports abortion rights, finds himself on the other side of the issue from the staunchly anti-abortion rights president.

Lockyer's spokesman denied that the attorney general was trying to politically maneuver the governor - who also has been fighting to increase federal funding for California.

"That's not our angle," said Nathan Barankin, the attorney general's spokesman. "Arnold is pro-choice."

The Governor's Office declined to comment.