For Immediate Release: Contact: Jenny Backus
April 1, 2001
202/863-8148

McAULIFFE OUTLINES BUSH'S ANTI-CHOICE AGENDA FOR SEN. HUTCHISON
DNC Chairman Names Top Five Bush Attacks on a Woman's Right to Choose in Response to Hutchison's MSNBC Statements

Washington, D.C. - Appearing last night on "The News with Brian Williams" Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) told Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe that it was a "ridiculous statement that woman's right to choose is in danger" because of the Bush Administration. She challenged McAuliffe to name any changes in abortion rights since Bush has been president.

"Since his very first policy action, President Bush has aggressively tried to roll back a woman's right to choose," said McAuliffe. "Senator Hutchison asked me to name an example of this. I'll do better than that, and we are less than one hundred days into the administration. I'll name the top five anti-choice actions by the Bush Administration so far: Bush appointed pro-life advocates to key cabinet positions. He banned funding for groups offering abortion counseling. He is considering banning RU-486. He formally supported the anti-choice March for Life. And Vice President Cheney has publicly advocated reversing Roe vs. Wade."

1. Bush banned funding for groups offering abortion counseling. Bush's first policy as President was to overturn an executive order that restored federal funding for some groups that offered abortion counseling overseas.

2. Bush is considering banning RU-486. On the heels of the overturned order, Bush administration officials have said they are considering overturning federal approval of the abortion pill RU-486.

3. Bush sent a message in support of anti-choice March for Life protesters. Within his first week in office, Bush sent a written message in support of the anti-choice March for Life Protestors that said, "Today, you are gathered to remind our country that one of those (our country's) ideals is the infinite value of every life…We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law. We know this will not come easily, or all at once. But this goal leads us onward: to build a culture of life, affirming that every person, at every stage and season of life, is created equally in God's image."

4. Bush has appointed pro-life advocates to key cabinet positions. During the nomination process, the National Right to Life Committee released a statement supporting Bush's selection of pro-life candidates Tommy Thompson for Secretary of Health and Human Services and John Ashcroft for Attorney General.

5. Vice President Cheney advocates overturning Roe vs. Wade. In an interview on Meet the Press, Cheney said that overturning Roe vs. Wade was a possibility and recognized compromises for not changing Roe vs. Wade, such as banning partial-birth abortions, advocating abstinence and making adoptions easier. When asked, "you won't seek to overturn Roe vs. Wade?" Cheney said, "Even if you could not, at this stage, build majority support for the notion of changing Roe vs. Wade, there are other areas out there where I think we can get majority support for, such as banning partial-birth abortions…" Bush has promised to sign a bill banning partial birth abortion if Congress passes it.

Even before Bush became President, he had been a vocal supporter of (and vocally supported by) the anti-choice movement. The National Right to Life endorsed Bush during the Republican primaries last spring, something they had never done before. During the fall presidential campaign, Bush agreed that, as governor of Texas, he was the most anti-choice governor in the United States, enacting the most anti-abortion laws during his tenure. He even went so far as to say that he feels the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade stretched the boundaries of the Constitution, alluding to his statement that conservative U.S. Supreme Justice Antoine Scalia is his ideal judge.

Additionally, without the threat of a presidential veto, abortion opponents in the House have said they will also try to add abortion language to spending bills, such as imposing parental consent requirements on family planning funds and eliminating contraception coverage for federal employees.

"The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay. Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous," said McAuliffe.