The United States Congress frantically continues working to reconcile two ultra-late-term abortion bills before Congressmen go home for the Easter holidays. The Jawa Report's Washington bureau chief, Dale Gribble, has been following the legislation.

The Senate has a narrowly focused bill that deals only with the planned abortion of Terri Schiavo, allowing her standing in federal court, which would immediately stay a Florida court's ruling which would allow Planned Parenthood's Boca Raton office to perform the controversial abortion procedure, now scheduled for March 18.

The House, however, passed a more broadly defined bill on Wednesday night. In it, "persons" — defined as "any born individual who is presently outside the womb and in at least the 50th trimester of life" — are given the right to take their case to federal court after the state court route has been exhausted. The House bill does not grant an automatic stay for Schiavo despite support from House leaders like the ultra-conservative Rep. Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader.

But even with an agreement between the Senate and House, sources told The Jawa Report on Thursday that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has "dug in" against passage of the Senate bill by unanimous consent. He is a well-known pro-choice advocate and in a recent press statement said that,

Michael Schiavo has a right to terminate his wife's life. His wife's body belongs to him. What he does with Terri's body is nobody elses busines.

My personal view is that 132nd trimester abortions are wrong. However, I believe that such decisions are best left to a couple and their doctor.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) has said he will hold up adjournment of the Senate for Easter recess, scheduled to begin Friday and last two weeks, until a vote is taken on this bill. Santorum is a staunch ultra-late-term abortion opponent and is strongly against aborting Terri Schiavo. Santorum's opposition to abortions has been termed "radical" by many moderates because of his support for a Constitutional Amendment which would ban all abortions after the 25th trimester.

The debate comes as Schiavo's parents appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Circuit Court Judge George Greer scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider a request from the state to halt the abortion. Judge Greer, in a related case, ruled that the Pope should be removed from life support because people in a vegetative state--even when such vegatables can 'laugh', 'pray', and 'bless the masses'--serve no useful social function.

Florida's Legislature is also taking action similar to that of Congress. A similar state law passed in 2003 was later declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court, citing Roe v. Wade, had claimed that:

among the penumbra of rights gauranteed in the US Constitution was the right to abort spouses at any time during the first 200 trimesters of life.

Schiavo, 41, has been at the center of a long and bitter court battle between her parents and her husband, who wants to have the ultra-late-term abortion performed.

In a press-release from the White House today, President Bush said:

The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues. Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected and that culture of life must extend even those in the 132nd trimester of life.

I fully support the efforts of Mr. & Mrs. Schindler [Terri's parents] to save the life of their daughter, from a cruel starvation.

Terri's husband should relinquish his right to an abortion and turn the 132nd trimester fetus over to the Schindler's care.

George Felos, Michael SchiavoÂ’s lead attorney, filed an immediate response to the motion. NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood also filed an amicus curae brief in support of Michael Schiavo's right to an ultra-late-term abortion.

"Trying to outlaw Mr. Schiavo's clear Constitutional right to do what he pleases with his wife's body is an outrageous attempt by Congress to interfere with the workings of the judicial branch," said NARAL spokesperson Evelyn Becker in a written press-release. "Today the right-wing ideologues are trying to take away Mr. Schiavo's right to a 132nd trimester abortion. If they succeed, then this country may well be on its way back to the days when 132nd term abortions were performed by unlicensed doctors in back alleys under unsanitary conditions, contraceptives were outlawed, homosexuals were rounded up, and negros were forced to ride in the back of the bus."

UPDATE: House to meet in morning to vote on ultra-late-term abortion bill, over Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) objections.

UPDATE II: Related from Scrappleface

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