
DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210512

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:  106 lines

SENATE OKS BAN ON TYPE OF LATE-TERM ABORTION BUT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH VOTES TO OVERRIDE EXPECTED VETO FROM CLINTON.

The Senate Tuesday passed a bill to ban a controversial late-term abortion procedure, but fell three votes short of the margin that would be needed to overturn a promised presidential veto.

Opponents of so-called partial-birth abortions, disappointed by the 64-36 vote, vowed to keep hammering away on the issue until public opinion forced the Senate and the president to give way.

``We've got members up for re-election'' next year, said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., chief sponsor of the bill. ``I wouldn't want to be home defending this vote (against the bill) anywhere in this country.''

The bill seeks to ban the procedure known medically as intact dilation and extraction, under which a surgeon pulls the fetus out of the birth canal feet first and then punctures the head, removes the brain and collapses the skull so the fetus can be removed vaginally. Under the bill, the procedue could be used only to save the woman's life, not to protect her health.

The Republican-crafted measure cleared with the current Democratic Leader, Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, and a predecessor, Sen. Robert C. Byrd of

West Virginia, reversing their earlier opposition and joining supporters.

President Clinton reiterated that he will veto the measure because it fails to allow the use of the procedure to protect the health of the mother. Clinton vetoed a similar bill last year for the same reason.

The 64 votes for the measure marked a new high for anti-abortion forces in the Senate, reflecting gains in the last two elections and their targeting of a procedure that even some senators with long histories of supporting abortion rights described as particularly gruesome.

In all, 51 Republicans and 13 Democrats voted Tuesday in favor of the measure, while 32 Democrats and four Republicans were opposed.

Two years ago, 54 senators voted for a similar bill. When it was vetoed last year by Clinton, 58 senators voted to override, six fewer than supported the bill Tuesday.

The House voted earlier this year by a veto-proof majority, 295-136, to outlaw the procedure.

The Senate vote to ban the procedure sent the measure to the House, which is expected to give final approval after lawmakers return from a Memorial Day recess.

In the final hours of Senate debate, lawmakers repeated oft-used lines.

``This is about infanticide,'' Santorum said of the procedure.

``We worry so much about the right to choose. What about the right to choose life, to give this baby a chance.''

Countered Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., ``This bill does harm. . . . Please do not relegate women to the status that says their life and their health does not matter.''

Passage of the measure was not in doubt; only the size of the majority was uncertain until the final moments, and the tension was clearly visible on the Senate floor.

Boxer and fellow Californian Dianne Feinstein were among a group of Democratic women senators who stood sentry in the front on the Democratic side of the chamber, providing a reminder that they opposed the GOP measure.

On the other side of the chamber, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - the object of much speculation in the hours leading to the vote - approached the roll call clerk together and cast their votes at virtually the same time. Both voted against the bill.

Daschle's reversal was the most public, coming from the party leader and a consistent supporter of abortion rights. A Catholic who is also on the election ballot next year, Daschle said the decision to change his vote from last year had been difficult ``because I favor a woman's right'' to consult with her doctor about her pregnancy.

Byrd, who served as Democratic leader for a dozen years ending in 1988, said in a written statement that ``in light of the fact that it is not as rare as some claimed and that there appear to be other alternatives, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to oppose a ban on this specific procedure.''

Byrd referred to comments made by abortion-rights supporter Ron Fitzsimmons, who confessed last year he had ``lied through my teeth'' when he said the procedure was performed rarely and only to save the mother's life or to abort malformed fetuses.

In addition to Daschle and Byrd, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., reversed his vote from a year ago. A spokesman said the South Carolina Legislature had recently approved a ban on ``partial birth'' abortions. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by Knight-Ridder News

Service, The Associated Press and The Washington Post. ILLUSTRATION: HOW THEY VOTED

The 64-36 roll call by which the Senate passed a bill Tuesday

banning a specific abortion procedure.

A ``yes'' vote was for the bill.

North Carolina

Lauch Faircloth (R) Yes;

Jesse Helms (R) Yes.

Virginia

Charles Robb (D) No;

John Warner (R) Yes.

IN VIRGINIA

Legislation: Several bills that would have outlawed intact dilation