The other amendment, introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) who is also an obstetrician-gynecologist, would stop all funding for population suppression programs around the world. The Paul Amendment would free American taxpayers from being forced, through their tax dollars, to pay for any abortions whatsoever and is consistent with the Republican Party principle that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed, a principle that does not discriminate against babies conceived in rape or incest. It further recognized that while it may be necessary to separate an unborn baby from his mother if her life is threatened, current medical technology ensures that it is never necessary to deliberately kill the baby.

The Paul Amendment also calls into question the practice of paying hundreds of millions of dollars to dispense dangerous drugs like oral "contraceptives," Depo-Provera, and Norplant, and devices like IUD’s to women in developing nations around the world. It is well known that IUD’s cause early abortions, but is not as widely known that the powerful drugs in question are known to work in two ways; 1.) sometimes they prevent conception and 2.) sometimes conception takes place and they cause a very early abortion. Medical experts believe that abortion-causing drugs being sold as contraceptives, are responsible for millions of chemical abortions a year. [For more information on this, see FaxNotes, June 24, 1997]

We were pleased by Friday’s vote, which clearly shows a very strong pro-life base in Congress. 132 pro-life Republicans and 15 Democrats voted for the Paul Amendment for a total of 147. In addition, two Republican pro-lifers who were listed as voting NO, Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) and Don Young (R-AK) told us they made a mistake and have filed the necessary papers to change their votes to YES, which will be reflected in the Congressional Record, making the total 149.

We called the offices of the pro-life Republicans who voted against the Paul Amendment. Those we talked to told us that, while they would vote against funding for abortions, they had no problem with "family planning." We hope to work with them to help them understand that as long as international population suppression agencies are dispensing dual-action oral contraceptives, Depo-Provera, Norplant and IUD’s in the name of "family planning", we are paying for abortions. You can help by letting them know your views.