WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending March 14.

HOUSE Organ donors

Voting 425 for and three against, the House on March 12 passed a bill (HR 399) authorizing up to $5 million annually for the travel and living expenses of individuals donating their organs. The bill, which awaits Senate action, also authorizes up to $15 million in fiscal 2004 for public education to spur donations.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Rep. Tom Allen, D, voted yes. Rep. Michael Michaud, D, voted yes.

SENATE

Abortion

Voting 64 for and 33 against, the Senate on March 12 sent the House a bill (S 3) making it a federal crime for doctors to perform a late-term abortion in which they partially extract the fetus, terminate it and remove it. Critics call this “partial-birth’ abortion, while defenders say it is sometimes necessary for the mother’s safety. The bill allows an exception to protect the mother’s life but not her health.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said: “We as a society respect human life far too much to let it be ravaged in such an inhumane way: a living infant partially delivered, stabbed with 8-inch scissors, emptied of the contents of its skull, and then pulled from its mother dead.”

Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said the bill addresses “a medical procedure that is only used in rare and dire circumstances. If (it) is passed, a doctor could be forced to perform another, more dangerous procedure if it becomes necessary to terminate a pregnancy to protect the life, the health of the mother.”

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Sen. Susan Collins, R, voted no. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R, voted no.

Contraception

Voting 49 for and 47 against, the Senate on March 11 failed to reach 60 votes needed to expand S 3 (above) to require health plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptives to the same extent that they cover other prescription drugs. The amendment also sought to require hospital emergency rooms to provide low-income women with “morning-after” pills, which, if taken within 72 hours of intercourse, can help to prevent pregnancy.

Richard Durbin, D-Ill., called it “ironic that these health insurance plans will provide Viagra to men but will not provide birth control pills to women….”

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Collins and Snowe voted yes.

Health exemption

Voting 60 for and 38 against, the Senate on March 12 tabled (killed) an amendment to S 3 (above) to legalize the disputed procedure in cases where two doctors judged it necessary to protect the mother’s health.

Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said: “Since most partial-birth abortions are in the 20-to-26 week range, there is ample opportunity for the doctor to say in every instance: “Well, I just didn’t think it was viable.’ There is no penalty. There is no criminal sanction. There is no peer review….”

Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the bill “must have an exception for those rare cases when it is necessary to save the life of the woman or to protect her physical health from grievous harm.”

A yes vote opposed the amendment.

Collins and Snowe voted no.

Roe v. Wade

The Senate on March 12 voted, 52 for and 46 against, to affirm Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that the choice of abortion is a constitutionally protected freedom. The vote occurred during debate on S 3 (above).

Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called it “important as we debate this so-called partial-birth abortion bill” to affirm that Roe v. Wade “is a good decision and it is not going to be overturned.”

Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said: “I hope fundamentally people will recognize that if you repeal Roe v. Wade, you go back to allowing the states to decide this issue….”

A yes vote endorsed Roe v. Wade.

Collins and Snowe voted yes.

Abortion definition

Voting 35 for and 60 against, the Senate on March 12 refused to base S 3 (above) on doctors’ rather than lawmakers’ definitions of “partial-birth” abortion. The amendment sought to substitute the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ definition for broader wording that, critics said, could lead Congress to outlaw other abortion procedures. But others said the underlying bill was narrowly and accurately worded.

Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said that because the bill fails to adequately define “partial-birth” abortion, it is “calculated to access all abortions. And if this becomes law…we will see that acted out in reality.”

Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said the amendment “does not define when a fetus is viable” and “imposes no restrictions on the abortionist. Instead (it) would permit the abortionist to decide what viability means.”

A yes vote supported the amendment.

Collins and Snowe voted no.