Yesterday, after a series of votes on amendments, the Senate passed H.R. 2764 as Amended; Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008. The bill itself passed easily, 81-12. However, Sen. Sam Brownback offered two anti-abortion amendments, one of which passed. Brownback Amdt. No. 2707; To prohibit funding of organizations that support coercive abortion has an intimidating sound to it. Who wants to give money to an organization that supports coercive abortion? No one I know. Yet, forty-two Democrats, plus GOP Sens. Collins, Snowe, and Specter didn’t fall for it. I’m not sure what all is in the amendment, but it passed 48-45. Of course, it wouldn’t have passed if Democratic Sens. Casey, Conrad, and Ben Nelson had not voted for it.
Brownback’s second amendment, to prevent contributions to organizations that perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning, failed 41-53. But, again, it had some Democratic support: Sens. Bob Casey and Ben Nelson. GOP Sens. Collins, Lugar, Murkowski, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stevens, and Warner all voted against it.
Bob Casey has been a progressive vote on most issues. But he screwed us on stem-cell research, where we fell one vote short of overriding the president’s veto, and he screwed us today. It’s these costly votes that are going to bring him a well-funded primary opponent in 2012.
