D.C. abortion funding: an explainer

What happened in 2009 anyway?
Congress approved legislation in 2009 that removed the restriction on local District tax funds for abortion services and allowed the city to legalize medical marijuana — moves that appeared to signal that the federal government was easing up on D.C.

At the time, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said the dropped rider had ''singled out the District and its women for unfair and unequal treatment,” and said it “created severe hardships for low-income women in the District.''

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(Photo: Associated Press)

The funding restriction was previously in place during the Republican-controlled Congress. That doesn’t mean that Democrats didn’t previously cast votes supporting it. House Speaker John Boehner's office earlier this month released research showing that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Vice President Joe Biden, and Obama had all previously voted in favor of the ban, according to The Hill.

“Obama has signed a previous spending bill into law containing the provision, and twice voted for legislation containing the ban on taxpayer-funded abortions in the Senate,” the Hill report reads. “Vice President Biden also cast seven votes in favor of similar measures during his time in the Senate.”

So … what now?
Spokespeople for Norton and D.C. Mayor Vince Gray did not return telephone messages Sunday. In a strongly worded statement, Gray said he was “angry and terribly disappointed” and said District residents “should express their outrage.”

Ilir Zherka, executive director of activist group DC Vote, which pushes for full representation in Congress, says organizers feel like they still have time to fight for changes to the proposed bill, despite the compromise.

“We're not going to accept it and we're going to work over the next few days to make sure that our voices are heard and that we push back,” Zherka says. “The legislation won't be voted on until later this week ... there's still time for push back so that's what we're going to do.”

“We're going to take it a day at a time. We'll see what happens (Monday.) We may be out Tuesday, Wednesday, I'm not sure,” Zherka says. “We'll have advocacy efforts every single day.”

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