Rep. Steve King adds anti-abortion rights amendment to rural funding bill
U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Kiron) successfully introduced an amendment to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012, HR 2112, to prevent any appropriations made possible by the bill to be used for mifepristone, for any purpose.
In introducing his amendment, King made clear that the purpose was to prevent Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from accessing a $15 million line item contained in the bill for development of telemedicine services; however, the language of the amendment is extremely broad. It states that “none of the funds made available by this Act may be used for mifepristone, commonly known as RU-486, for any purpose,” which does not specifically target the telemedicine line item, but applies to any and all appropriations within the bill.