This is a congressional alert from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) in Washington, issued Thursday, July 10, 2003, at 1 p.m. EDT.

On Tuesday, July 15, or Wednesday, July 16, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on an important pro-life amendment. All pro-life groups and citizens should contact their U.S. House members to urge them to support the Smith-Oberstar-Hyde Amendment to the State Department authorization bill (H.R. 1950). A close vote is expected.

At issue is an important pro-life law, the Kemp-Kasten Anti-Coercion Law. The Kemp-Kasten law, which has been in effect for 18 years, prohibits U.S. funding of any organization that "supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntarily sterilization." Under this law, the Bush Administration has cut off funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) because of its extensive involvement in China's population control program, which relies heavily on coerced abortions.

Rather than pressuring the UNFPA or China to reform their policies, pro-abortion lawmakers are trying to gut the anti-coercion law. A House committee added to the bill the "Crowley Amendment," which would rewrite the current anti-coercion law to allow funding unless an agency is "directly" promoting coercive abortion -- which is defined so narrowly that the UNFPA would be free to support programs that openly and pervasively rely on coercion. The "Crowley Amendment" would also authorize an additional $25 million per year in U.S. funding for the UNFPA (over and above the $25 million per year the agency would already receive if it complied with Kemp-Kasten).

Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Jim Oberstar (D-Mn.), and Henry Hyde (R-Il.) are cosponsoring an amendment RESTORE the original Kemp-Kasten law and to strip out the $25 million per year increase for the UNFPA.

The message is simple: "Vote for the Smith-Oberstar-Hyde Amendment to prevent U.S. funding of agencies that support compulsory abortion programs in China or elsewhere." All House offices can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121. Email to Representatives can be sent using the following link: www.house.gov/writerep.

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