Abortion vote lost

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 11

Abortion vote lost

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The United States Senate yesterday defeated a proposed Constitutional amendment aimed at restricting abortions, in the first clearcut Congressional vote on the controversial issue. The amendment would have required a two-thirds majority for passage. Although its defeat had been expected, the vote off 49 in favour to 50 against was a larger ■ victory for the socalled pro-choice forces than had been predicted.

This was the first time a Congressional vote had been

taken on the Constitutional issue which the Supreme Court had upheld only two weeks ago. The vote did not even produce a simple majority for the anti-abortion forces in the Republican-domin-ated Senate. A Constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval in the House of representatives and Senate and approval by three-fourths of the state legislatures. It would have needed 67 votes for Senate pas- sage. The defeat of the antiabortion amendment was

immediately heralded by citizens’ organisations such as the National Abortion Federation representing health clinics, Catholics for a Free Choice, and the National Abortion Rights Action League. Anti-abortion forces had said that the votes on the amendment would serve as a litmus test of support for their cause and would be important in determining their political support or opposition in the Presidential election next years.