D.C. Notebook | Abortion ruling spurs reply

WASHINGTON — In response to the Supreme Court's narrow decision limiting abortion on Wednesday, Rep. Jim McDermott and Sen. Patty Murray are co-sponsoring bills to preserve abortion rights.

The Freedom of Choice Act was introduced in the House and Senate on Thursday. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., are promoting the legislation.

The legislation would codify the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and bar states from limiting abortion rights. It was introduced in 2006 and 2004 but never made it out of either the Senate or House judiciary committees.

That could change in the House this time with a clear Democratic majority, but it's uncertain if there are enough votes on the Senate side.

Wednesday's Supreme Court decision was the first time in 30 years the court ruled that a specific abortion procedure could be outlawed. At issue was a controversial mid- and late-term abortion method medically known as dilation and extraction, or D&X, which critics call "partial-birth" abortion.

"As a medical doctor who has witnessed firsthand the horrors of what can happen if a woman cannot freely choose a course of action in consultation with a health professional, I am gravely concerned when the Supreme Court votes to insert itself into the room with a doctor and patient," said McDermott, D-Seattle.

The House Select Committee on Global Warming held its first hearing on Wednesday.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, pushed hard for a seat on the nascent panel, which was created in March. He was hoping for lively debate, but the only fireworks came from the ranking Republican, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who questioned the need for the committee's existence.

Sensenbrenner said the committee was trying to scare children, adding that the global-warming debate "has created a lot of hot air, which hasn't been good for Congress' carbon footprint."

The hearing's topic was the implications of global warming on national security, and the witnesses include former CIA Director James Woolsey and Dennis McGinn, a retired Navy vice admiral.

Inslee said the panel's leaders want to show that America's security will be affected by environmental changes, such as millions of environmental refugees. He said that a disappearing ecosystem in Somalia led to the government collapse there in the early 1990s, which led to the U.S. "Black Hawk Down" disaster.

Inslee sighed about Sensenbrenner, saying, "It's very difficult to understand how people who use a microwave and cellphone can turn around and act like they're at the Scopes monkey trial."

McDermott found himself presiding temporarily in the House for a few hours on Friday. A colleague who knows McDermott's reputation for stirring up controversy asked him how the "rabble rouser" got to be in charge. Said McDermott, "I got a lot of moves you don't know about."

The major issue facing the delegation next week will be the vote on supplemental funding for the Iraq war, which House and Senate Appropriations leaders hope to bring to a floor vote.

The White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner Saturday night boasted two guests from the Seattle area. "American Idol" singer Sanjaya Malakar, who was voted off the TV show last week, was a guest of People magazine. Crushed by fans at several parties, the Federal Way teenager wore a royal-blue suit and blond streaks in his famous hair. And former U.S. Attorney John McKay was a guest of The Washington Post. He said he'd followed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the firing of eight federal prosecutors, including himself. McKay sat just a few tables away from Gonzales at the dinner.