WASHINGTON — Legislation to bolster efforts to combat human trafficking has fallen victim to abortion rights advocates in the U.S. Senate.
The Democratic minority defeated an effort to bring an anti-trafficking bill to the Senate floor March 17 because of its opposition to language barring federal funds for abortion. The Senate twice voted 55–43 to invoke cloture which would directly open debate on the floor for action on the legislation.
The vote came on legislation that would enhance penalties for such crimes as slavery and trafficking, as well as sexual exploitation of children. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, S. 178, also would increase restitution for trafficking victims and fund services for child pornography victims.
“Stopping human trafficking is too important a priority to be held hostage by the abortion lobby’s culture-warring,” Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said in a written statement. “I urge the Senate to think about vulnerable women and children in peril, rather than about the political maneuvers of the abortion-industrial complex.”
(Baptist Press)
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