The Senate again fell three votes short of overriding President Clinton's veto of a bill that would prohibit partial-birth abortions.  Massachusetts senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy voted to sustain the veto, as did every other member of the New England delegation except Senator Leahy of Vermont. 

Friday's 64-36 vote was the same tally as the Senate passed the bill, in May 1997.  Clinton vetoed the bill in October, and the House overrode the veto this July.  Representatives Neal and Moakley were the only members of the Massachusetts House delegation who voted to override. 
 
At present, abortion is permitted up to the moment of complete delivery throughout the United States. In a partial-birth abortion, the abortionist delivers a child in the breech position until only the child's head remains unborn, then inserts scissors into the baby's skull, suctions the child's brains out, collapses the skull, and delivers a dead child. 

The Supreme Court has theoretically permitted states to prohibit abortion in the third trimester, but not if pregnancy is regarded as a threat to a woman's health, including her psychological well-being.  This exception is so broad as to amount to abortion-on-demand. 

Thus, although Massachusetts law prohibits abortions after twenty-three weeks, the state "unconstitutionally prohibits some post-viability abortions that are necessary to preserve the woman's health," according to the National Abortion Rights Action League. 

Bellow are Senator Kennedy's comments on the bill, from the Congressional Record: 

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I oppose this legislation, and I urge the Senate to sustain the President's veto. 

In my view, this legislation is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and President Clinton was right to veto it. The Roe and Casey 
decisions prohibit the government from imposing an `undue burden' on a woman's constitutional right to choose to have an abortion at any time up to the point where the developing fetus reaches the stage of viability. The government can constitutionally limit abortions after the stage of viability, as  long as the limitations contain exceptions to protect the life and the health of the woman. 

This bill fails that constitutional test. In cases before viability, it clearly imposes an undue burden on a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. 

In cases after viability, it clearly does not contain the 
constitutionally required exception to protect the mother's health. 

Supporters of this legislation are flagrantly defying these constitutional requirements. In the vast majority of states that have passed so-called partial-birth abortion bans, the law is on appeal, enjoined, or the subject of a restraining order. With only one exception, where the laws have been 
challenged, the courts have concluded that these bans are unconstitutional. 

The conclusion is obvious. The supporters of this unconstitutional legislation would rather have an issue than a bill. President Clinton vetoed this legislation on October 10, 1997. Almost an entire year 
has passed since that veto. If the Senate Republican leadership genuinely cared about preventing these abortions, they would have brought this veto before the Senate long ago. Instead, they delayed and delayed and delayed. And now, surprise! The Senate is finally being asked to vote on this veto a few weeks before election day. They want an issue, not a bill. 

In her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Coreen Costello put this issue clearly. After consulting numerous medical experts and doing everything possible to save her child, Coreen Costello had the procedure that would be banned by this legislation. Based on that experience, she 
said this to our committee: 

"I hope you can put aside your political differences, your positions on abortion, and your party affiliations and just try to remember us. We are the ones who know. We are the families that ache to hold our babies, to love them, to nurture them. We are the families who will forever have a hole in our hearts. We are the families that had to choose how our babies would die . . . please put a stop to this terrible bill. Families like mine are counting on you." 

I want the Senate to sustain the President's veto. 

To see the roll-call vote, click here. 

 

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