This is a congressional alert from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, D.C., issued Thursday, March 6, 2003.

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2003) -- In response to President Bush's appeal to ban an "abhorrent procedure that offends human dignity," the U.S. Senate is slated to begin debate on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act the week of March 10.

The legislation (S. 3), sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), would ban an abortion method in which a living baby is mostly delivered alive before being killed. The bill has been a major pro-life priority since 1995. It was twice vetoed by President Clinton.

A January Gallup poll found that 70% of the public favors the ban. Nevertheless, the bill still faces fierce resistance from lawmakers closely allied with the abortion lobby. It is not yet known whether pro-abortion senators will attempt to impede the bill with a filibuster. Close votes are expected on crippling amendments, including an alternative measure that pro-life groups refer to as "the phony ban."

For details on the current congressional situation, recently reported statistics on partial-birth abortion, and other up-to-date information, see the memo "Recent Developments on Partial-Birth Abortion," posted on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org. Also viewable on the website is a series of graphic illustrations of the partial-birth abortion method, recently made available to NRLC.

ACTION REQUESTED

HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR VIRGINIA SENATORS

• PHONE CALLS: Senator Allen can be reached at 202-224-4024; Senator Warner can be reached at 202-224-2023. Other senators can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Once connected, explain that you are a constituent, politely convey your position, and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.
  
  
• FAXES can be sent to Virginia Senator Allen at 202-224-5432, and Senator Warner at 202-224-2023.
  
  
• E-MAIL can be sent to Virginia Senators using these hot links for Senator George Allen and Senator John Warner. E-mail addresses for other senators are available from the Senate website at www.senate.gov. Be sure to include your regular mailing address in the text of your e-mails, so that the senators know that the message comes from constituents.

IMPORTANT REQUEST

If you obtain information on any senator's position (including information reported in the press), please forward it to NRLC by e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com (preferred), or by fax to (202) 347-3668, or by regular mail to NRLC, Federal Legislation, 512-10th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004-1401

This can be of great assistance to NRLC's lobbying effort to ban all human cloning. Please, do not assume NRLC already has the information! Often, lawmakers first reveal their leanings in interviews with their home-state news media, or in letters to their own constituents. By promptly forwarding such information to NRLC, you can provide invaluable assistance to NRLC's lobbying efforts.

A short factsheet, "Key Facts on Partial-Birth Abortion," is posted here: www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/keyfactsPBA.htm.

The most extensive archive of documentation on partial-birth abortion available on the internet, including links to groundbreaking investigations of the subject by journalists, is here: www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/index.html. Among the documents posted is NRLC's in-depth testimony presented to Congress, with citations to primary sources: www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/test.html.

VSHL is the Virginia affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.