McConnell: Dems not logically consistent

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took a closing shot at Democrats Wednesday, saying there was never a  “logically consistent rationale” for them to block a bill to curb human trafficking.

McConnell took issue with Democrats blocking the bill over language that they said would extend the prohibition on federal funds being used for abortions, known as the Hyde Amendement.

{mosads}“Let me be as clear as possible: There was never a logically consistent rationale to the filibuster that held this bill up,” McConnell said.

Democrats argued that if the prohibition was applied to a victims fund, it would expand the ban on federal funding for abortion since money from fines on private individuals would have funded the account.

Under an agreement reached this week, the victims fund would get its money from two sources: criminal fines and previously appropriated congressional funds.

Debra Ness, the president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said the legislation would still mean that “trafficking survivors will… face unconscionable restrictions to accessing the reproductive health services they need.”

“We condemn the attempt to use the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act as a vehicle to advance the radical anti-choice agenda,” she said. “Even though the compromise announced today stopped anti-choice efforts to expand the Hyde Amendment’s reach, trafficking survivors will still face unconscionable restrictions to accessing the
reproductive health services they need.”

Senators are expected to vote on more than a dozen amendments to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act Wednesday, before taking a vote to pass the legislation. The proposal has been stalled since mid-March when it got caught in a fight over the abortion language.