An Interview with Congressman Chris Smith on the New "Abortion Congress"

By Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, November 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - For the first time in 12 years, Democrats have regained control of both houses of the US Congress, toppling pro-life Republican leaders with the aid of their own pro-life candidates. However, with both the House of Representatives and the Senate under their control, the liberal leadership of the Democratic Party now possesses the array of congressional powers to stifle pro-life initiatives and to advance their pro-abortion agenda.

"Every chairmanship and subcommittee chairmanship is in the hands of the Democrats and in every instance where it matters" pro-life Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) gravely told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview. The congressman explained that Democrats now have the "abortion Congress" and will determine through these committees what legislation makes it to the floors of the full House and Senate for a vote, making pro-life legislation and pro-life amendments to bills nearly impossible.

"It's not going to happen barring a miracle in the 110th Congress," stated Smith, who added that he is counting on the 20-25 pro-life Democrats in the House to support the fight for life. However, other than these "courageous, heroic" exceptions, Smith said the Democratic Party remains "the wholly owned subsidiary of the abortion lobby, and Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and their subsidiaries get to write the laws now."

Within the first 100 hours, Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the new House Speaker, has promised to reintroduce federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which the President vetoed last year. The Democrats will determine the legislative agenda which includes the "Emergency Contraception Education Act", a national education program on emergency contraception specifically advertising Barr Laboratories Plan-B, and the "Freedom of Choice Act" which would overturn all federal or state legislation to lock in the "right" to an abortion.

The main obstacle to pro-abortion legislation will be President Bush's veto, which will nullify any law passed by Congress, unless both houses achieve a 2/3 veto proof majority forcing him to sign the bill.

"My hope is that he will use his veto and in advance let everyone on the Hill that he will not enable the culture of death, not on his watch," said Smith adding that he and other pro-life congressmen "will be fighting in the trenches on Capitol Hill."

The US Constitution gives Congress control of the federal budget, which means pro-abortion Democrats will have the ability to cut federal funding from pro-life, pro-family, and pro-faith programs supported by the government, such as support for crisis pregnancy centers and other programs encouraging abstinence before marriage. At the same time, they will use the budget to finance abortion domestically and internationally.

"There is no doubt in my mind that they will make a major serious effort to take US taxpayer funds by the hundreds of millions and give it to the abortion lobby," said Smith, who stated that Democrats try every year to repeal President Bush's Mexico City Policy which forbids US foreign aid to finance abortion overseas. "We're going to have to fight every one of those international efforts, those domestic efforts, because they will be preparing every one of the bills that come to the floor."

The next two years will likely see no appointments of conservative judges, since the Senate has to confirm Bush's nominees. Both Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), the future chairman of the judiciary committee and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have made it clear that any judicial nominee must pass their litmus test on abortion. Theoretically the President could appoint conservatives to federal courts when the Senate is in recess under the Constitution.

While the Senate has not been the friend of the pro-life movement, owing to what Rep. Smith calls its "arcane, very antidemocratic rules", pro-life Republicans could force gridlock on pro-abortion legislation through a "filibuster", a familiar tactic employed by Democrats to block permanent pro-life legislation and conservative judges. Ending a filibuster would require 60 votes for cloture, which then permits legislation to get an up and down vote on the Senate floor.

"We got to be ready to fight as we never fought before, because the Democratic Party is the party of abortion, and they want an abortion president," said Rep. Smith. "We are going to have to fight in a way reminiscent of the way we did in 1992 and even harder, especially on some of the more biotech issues like embryonic stem cells so that we lose nothing in the way of policy in 2007 and 2008, and hopefully regain ground unless they get the abortion President Hillary Clinton or somebody like her."

"We will win this someday," said a confident Smith. "The question is how big will the casualty count be, how many victims will die a brutal death before we get there."

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