House Passes a Pro-choice Bill with Backing from Jewish Groups

With help from Jewish groups, women in the military have won one round in their battle for equal access to abortion, but the rest of the fight will be uphill.

The House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would restore the right of enlisted women and the wives of men stationed overseas to use private money to pay for abortions at military facilities.

That right, which military women had throughout the Reagan years, was rescinded in 1988.

Jewish groups that campaigned to overturn the ban welcomed Thursday’s 216-193 vote in the House. But they conceded that the measure is likely to be vetoed by President Bush if it remains in the final version of the defense bill that emerges from the House-Senate conference.

Last spring, a similar measure passed the House by a vote of 220-208, also as part of the defense authorization bill, but it was stripped out under the threat of a presidential veto.

But Jewish groups supporting the amendment hope that, with abortion rights emerging as a major concern in this year’s election campaign, the bill will remain intact.

“We applaud the House for carrying out the will of the majority of the American people,” said Judith Golub, legislative director of the American Jewish Committee. “And we hope this will be the year Congress will end this discriminatory policy that prohibits women in the service of their country from having the same rights as all other American women.”

“We are very happy,” said Julie Nusbaum, legislative coordinator for the National Council of Jewish Women. “We see this as a real fairness issue and a simple question of access.”

Nusbaum said the amendment faces an “uphill battle” and that the council plans to lobby the Senate in the coming weeks as it prepares to draft its authorization bill.

Mark Pelavin, Washington representative of the American Jewish Congress, said he is not particularly optimistic about the measure’s survival. But he said there is a slim chance Bush could be persuaded not to veto the bill by the buildup of pro-choice pressure within the GOP.