Frank Lautenberg, in a press conference yesterday, warned Republicans: “I won’t attempt to voice my views on your family and let my family alone. Don’t go near my daughters.”
There are, of course, no Republicans headed for his daughters.
He was talking about H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which is a lot less dramatic than he’s making it out to be. It will keep taxpayer funding away from abortion, making the Hyde Amendment permanent and universal. It does, in fact, what Democrats once told us was already law. And exactly what the House Pledge promised.
But don’t tell Lautenberg that, he’s celebrating Halloween early this year:
“If they had their way, the reproductive rights of American women would be tossed away and it sounds to me like a Third World country that’s requiring women to wear head shawls to cover their faces even if they don’t want to do it,” said Lautenberg. “This is America. It’s not one of the third world countries that we see these tragic decisions hoisted upon the women.”
New Jersey congressman Chris Smith, sponsor of H.R. 3 with Democrat Dan Lipinski, ought not to expect a Valentine from the senator this year.