Lawmaker hopes plan will curb abortions
By Brad Hicks
Johnson City Press
Feburary 19, 2009

Congressman and House Appropriations Committee member Lincoln Davis said ever since he married in 1963, he has held the strong belief that life begins at conception.

"For me, life is sacred," he said.

Davis, who touts himself as a "pro-life Democrat" representing Tennessee's 4th District, has introduced legislation that he hopes will significantly reduce the number of abortions performed over the course of the next decade and will erase the political divide on the issue.

Prior to 1973, a political stance on the issue of abortion was nonexistent, Davis said. However, that year the decision in the Roe v. Wade case made abortion legal in the United States. Since then, the topic of abortion has proven to be a controversial subject, with supporters on both sides. According to Davis' Web site, approximately 1.3 million abortions are performed annually.

"So, I've always run as a pro-life candidate," he said.

However, Davis believes that extreme pro-life and pro-choice stances have kept people from "the middle" — a viable solution that could appease both sides of the debate. Davis believes his legislation is capable of providing that middle ground.

Davis' Pregnant Women Support Act is a combination of 14 proposals to help women make informed decisions, support pregnant women and assist new parents. Alternatives to abortion also would be encouraged. Through the legislation, Davis hopes to reduce the number of abortions in the United States by 95 percent over a 10-year period.

"So it's not about pro-life or pro-choice, it's about what are you doing to bring an end or reduction to abortions," Davis said.

This goal can be accomplished by addressing the concerns that lead women to turn to abortion in the first place, Davis said. According to him, the inability to afford a child is included in the reason to undergo an abortion in 73 percent of the cases, with it being the primary reason in about 52 percent.

Davis' bill seeks to make adoption tax credits permanent, fully fund the Special Nutrition for Women, Infants and Children program, provide free home visits by registered nurses to new mothers, and increase funding for domestic violence programs.

"We need to remove those issues from their life," Davis said.

Another aspect the bill addresses is increasing a pregnant woman’s access to health care. Davis wants to see expanded coverage for pregnant women and their unborn children through Medicaid. Recently, some pregnant women were included in the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a program to help children of families who make too little to afford health insurance but too much to qualify for Medicaid.

Davis wants to see to it that prenatal and postnatal health care is included in the legislation. He also wants to see the removal of pregnancy from "pre-existing condition" lists in health care.

"A child is not cancer," he said. "A child is not a heart attack. It's not diabetes. A child is a human being and is not a disease."

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

While Davis' legislation was reintroduced to the 111th Congress earlier this year and is still pending, its main objective is already seeing support. Earlier this month, the White House announced abortion reduction would play a role in the mission of President Barack Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.