(VIDEO) DC Delegate Blocked From Testifying On Abortions

CAPITOL HILL, DC (WUSA)--No vote and now no voice.

DC's furious Congressional delegate was blocked from speaking on a bill that would ban late-term abortions in the city. Democrats called it a disgrace. Republicans insisted it was well within Congressional subcommittee tradition.

When Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) gaveled the Subcommittee on the Constitution to order to discuss the "District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was not at the witness table. She was sitting in the audience.

Democrats insisted the members from a district effected by a bill are traditionally allowed to testify. Blocking Norton from testifying on a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks in DC is like banning the representative from Osh Kosh from testifying on a bridge in his district, said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking member.

But subcommittee chair Franks gave Democrats a slot for just one witness on his bill. He told them to choose one person to testify, while Republicans got three witnesses.

That left Democrats to decide whether to pick a DC woman who had a late term abortion because her fetus had severe brain defects... or Del. Norton. They chose the mom. But they complained loudly at the hearing.

At a news conference before the hearing, DC Mayor Vincent Gray called the abortion bill a frontal assault on the city's autonomy. He invited Rep. Franks to run for office in the city if he's so interested in District issues.

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http://wusa9.com/news/article/205687/373/DC-Delegate-Blocked -From-Testifying-On-Abortions

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