Harry Reid: 4 things to know about the late Senate majority leader
1. Reid voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
Throughout his career, Reid broke with many in his party by frequently supporting pro-life initiatives. He voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, making him one of 13 Democrats to join nearly all Senate Republicans in supporting the bill championed by pro-life activists. As the late “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert noted in 2004, Reid was “one of two Senate Democrats who voted against an amendment expressing support for the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.”
As Democrats became more uniform in their support for abortion rights during his tenure on Capitol Hill, Reid continued to receive respectable ratings from pro-life interest groups and mixed reviews from pro-abortion interest groups well into his 30-year Senate career. In 2003, Reid received a rating of 29% from the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), a prominent abortion advocacy group. Three years later, the National Right to Life Committee gave Reid a 50% rating, indicating a “mixed record on abortion.”
Later in his career, Reid began to align himself with his pro-abortion colleagues on a more regular basis. Specifically, he voted to table an amendment to the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 that would have prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions. Six years later, Reid sided with nearly all of his Democratic colleagues by voting against a bill that would have defunded Planned Parenthood.
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Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
