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House votes to block approval of abortion drugs Measure passes, 217-214, as agriculture bill amendment Wednesday, June 09, 1999 By Jack Torry, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The House yesterday narrowly passed a conservative-backed measure that would prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from testing or approving RU-486 and other drugs that induce abortions early in a woman's pregnancy.
The amendment, approved 217-214, was attached to a $61 billion agriculture spending bill, which was expected to pass the House later last night. Although it is unlikely that the amendment will become law, its aim is to prevent American women from using a drug known as mifepristone that has been used by more than 500,000 European women.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee on agriculture appropriations, complained: "This amendment would absolutely set a dangerous precedent. Congress has never legislated the approval or disapproval of any drug. That is the job of the Food and Drug Administration.
"We, as taxpayers, pay to make sure that what reaches our shelves is safe, but we don't prejudge what is medically relevant," she said. "We also know that many drugs are tested, and they end up being used for treatment of more than one disease or illness or condition."
The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a conservative physician, explained, "My purpose is to say that no taxpayer money from Oklahoma or anywhere else ought to be used in figuring out how to kill children."
The House last year approved the identical measure, but it was deleted from the final version of a major spending bill passed by Congress before the November elections.
Kaptur, who opposes use of federal money to finance abortions, predicted that the Senate would reject the amendment in its version of the agriculture spending bill and that "it isn't going to become a part of the final legislation."
Forty Democrats joined 181 Republicans in approving the amendment, while 36 Republicans and 173 Democrats opposed it. All Western Pennsylvania House members except Rep. William Coyne, D-Oakland, supported the measure.
The FDA is considering approval of RU-486 and other drugs that are used for abortions in the first 49 days of a woman's pregnancy. Under the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade, a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion during the first trimester of her pregnancy. But conservatives have tried to block FDA approval of new drugs used during the first trimester.
Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said in a statement, "Anti-choice lawmakers are imposing their political agenda on the FDA and have consequently shut the door on what promises to be an important medical advancement for the American public."
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