By Anne Elliott

(AXcess News) Washington -  For the first time since 1998, a House committee will debate whether the District of Columbia should be allowed to use local tax money to pay for abortions.

The Appropriations Committee will examine the bill Thursday.

In his 2010 budget proposal, President Barack Obama suggested that Congress change the wording of the Dornan Amendment to allow local, but not federal, tax money to pay for abortions.

The amendment, named for former representative Bob Dornan, R-Calif., prohibits the District from using any tax money to pay for abortions except to save the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. Obama suggested that the word "federal" be inserted before the word "funds" in the law, allowing other tax funds to be used.

This is the first time someone has proposed that the law be adjusted since 1998, when the District's non-voting delegate, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, asked for the same change.

At a news conference Wednesday, members of the House Pro-Life Women's Caucus and the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political action committee, announced their opposition to the proposal. Committee President Marjorie Dannenfelser said passing the revised amendment would be a source of tension between Republicans and Democrats because it would increase the number of abortions, rather than reduce them, as the president said he wants to do.

The change "will help them pave the way for complete taxpayer funding of abortion-on-demand," Dannenfelser said.

Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, chairwoman of the caucus, said she sees the proposal as a human rights issue that is contrary to the president's stated desire. "Everyone has a right to life," she said.

Laura Meyers, CEO of the District's Planned Parenthood, also said she sees the proposal as a human rights issue.

"Women should have access to safe and legal abortions regardless of their economic circumstances," she said, adding that she sees the change as "obviously, very positive" and one that would provide access for low-income women equal to that of women with more money. 

Meyers said the change in language would be an opportunity to increase home rule in the District, allowing it to decide whether to use local tax money to provide abortions. Under the Constitution, Congress has control over Washington's laws and budget.

According to Gallup's 2009 Values and Beliefs survey, 51 percent of Americans identified themselves as pro-life, compared to 42 percent who said they were pro-choice. This is the first time the number of anti-abortion Americans has outnumbered those who favor abortion rights since 1995. The results come from a telephone survey of 1,015 adults, conducted from May 7 to May 10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire