WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Senate voted Feb. 26 to prohibit federal funding for abortion as part of an Indian health care bill.
Senators approved the amendment 52-42. The Senate approved the overall bill, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, with an 83-10 vote.
“We are very pleased by the passage of the amendment,” said Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
The amendment's language allows exceptions in the ban for abortions to save the life of the mother or in cases of pregnancy by rape or incest.
The Senate vote fell largely along party lines, with Republicans dominating on the side of the amendment's passage.
The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the health care measure, which revises federal law to improve health care services for Indians.