In a sharp defeat for Gov. Parris N. Glendening and abortion rights advocates, the House of Delegates voted last night to keep the state's restrictions on when tax dollars may be used to pay for abortions for poor women on Medicaid.
The 72-67 vote came after more than an hour of debate by more than a dozen delegates on both sides of the always emotional abortion issue. Of the 41 Republicans in the House, 38 voted to keep the restrictions.
The governor had deleted the restrictions from his proposed budget for next year, arguing that they had the effect of treating poor women on Medicaid differently from all other women in the state by limiting their access to abortions.
"Do we allow the 'haves' to have one standard of health care and the 'have-nots' to have another? That's the bottom line," said Del. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat who backed the governor's position.
But opponents said the 15-year-old restrictions are appropriate and necessary because they limit the use of tax dollars for a procedure of which many taxpayers disapprove.
"It was a compromise, and this is not the time to fool with it," said Del. Marsha G. Perry, an Anne Arundel County Democrat. "The current restrictions do not deny that access."
Mr. Glendening lobbied delegates by phone and in one-on-one meetings in his office. The defeat was the biggest for his young administration, although the fight will not be over until the Senate takes up the issue.
Afterward, the governor issued a statement saying, "I am disappointed by the action of the House of Delegates, and look for the state Senate to make the right decision that a woman's right to choose should not be a matter of economics."
But Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, a Baltimore Democrat and an abortion rights leader in the Senate, said before the House vote that if the delegates restored the restrictions, she doubted that the Senate would contest the decision.
"You can't fight it in the Senate," where an end-of-session filibuster on this issue would be all but certain, Ms. Hoffman said. "If the House is unable to protect poor women, then we're certainly not going to fall on our sword."
Restrictions on when Medicaid funds may be used to pay for an abortion were put on the books in Maryland in 1979, then modified in 1980. They allow Medicaid to pay for an abortion only if the mother's life is in danger, her pregnancy is the result of reported rape or incest, her physical or mental health is seriously threatened, or the fetus suffers from severe abnormality.
Under those rules, the state paid for nearly 3,000 abortions through Medicaid in 1993. State officials estimate that lifting the restrictions would result in about 1,600 more abortions annually.
The abortion vote was the final action taken by the House before it gave preliminary approval to a proposed $14.3 billion state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The 2 1/2 -hour debate on the spending plan offered no surprises. More than 160 amendments to the budget offered by the Appropriations Committee were adopted without any serious challenge.
Republicans, hoping to score political points by suggesting that the Democratic-controlled House had not sufficiently trimmed spending, offered a half-dozen amendments recommending deeper cuts. Their amendments targeted arts and tourism programs, football stadium construction funds, a new neighborhood revitalization grant program and even the amount the Democrats wanted to set aside to offset potential cuts in federal funds.
The first Republican amendment, offered by Del. Robert L. Flanagan of Howard County and lumping together all the proposed additional cuts, was defeated, 102-37. A series of additional amendments suggesting cuts to individual programs included in the Flanagan amendment were also rejected.
"We're trying to make a point," said House Minority Leader Robert H. Kittleman of Howard County. "[Republicans] have been criticized in the past for trying to cut taxes, but that we won't say where to cut the budget. We tried to offer reasonable cuts."
When the budget debate ended, the chatter in the House subsided and the delegates quietly listened as Del. George W. ** Owings III, a Calvert County Democrat, opened the abortion debate by suggesting that public opinion polls show that "a majority of Marylanders do not want their hard-earned tax dollars used for abortions."
Del. Nancy K. Kopp, a Montgomery County Democrat, said the governor's action simply would bring poor women on Medicaid into line with all other women in the state, whose broad access to abortion services was assured by a 1991 law overwhelmingly ratified by Maryland voters in 1992.
Opponents, including freshman Harford County Republican Nancy Jacobs, questioned statistics cited by abortions rights advocates that suggest most Medicaid abortions now are performed in the second trimester of pregnancy and in expensive hospitals rather than less costly clinics.
Ms. Jacobs asserted that the state health department cannot say with certainty at precisely what stage of pregnancy most Medicaid recipients undergo abortions. She also said most go to hospitals rather than clinics because the state reimbursement to clinics is so low that they often refuse to accept Medicaid patients.
Abortion rights advocates had been worried that they lost strength in the House during the last election, and the vote -- especially the strong vote by freshmen Republicans -- seemed to prove that their fears were well-founded.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a Democrat from Prince George's County, declined to speculate about what will happen in the Senate.
"There will be vigorous debate, but the outcome is anyone's best guess," he said.
"There will be a lot of lobbying between here and there."
HOW DELEGATES VOTED
THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES last night approved a measure that would keep current restrictions on when state Medicaid money can be used to pay for abortions. Here's how delegates voted:
YEA: (72)
Baker, Wheeler R., D-Queen Anne's
Baldwin, Robert C., R-Anne Arundel
Beck, Raymond, R-Montgomery
Bissett, Philip, R-Anne Arundel
Bonsack, Rose Mary Hatem, D-Harford
Bozman, Bennett, D-Worcester
Brinkley, David R., R-Frederick
Burns, Emmett C. Jr., D-Balto. Co.
Burns, Michael W., R-Anne Arundel
Ciliberti, Barrie S., R-Montgomery
Conroy, Mary A., D-Pr. George's
Conway, Norman H., D-Wicomico
Crumlin, Michael A., D-Pr. George's
Cryor, Jean, R-Montgomery
Curran, Gerald J., D-Baltimore
DeCarlo, Diane, D-Balto. Co.
Dewberry, Thomas E., D-Balto. Co.
Dixon, Richard N., D-Carroll
Donoghue, John P., D-Washington
Dypski, Cornell N., D-Baltimore
Edwards, George C., R-Garrett
Elliott, Donald B., R-Carroll
Flanagan, Robert L., R-Howard
Fry, Donald C., D-Harford
Getty, Joseph M., R-Carroll
Greenip, Janet, R-Anne Arundel
Guns, Ronald A., D-Cecil
Harkins, James M., R-Harford
Healey, Anne, D-Pr. George's
Holt, Kenneth, R-Balto. Co.
Hutchins, Thomas E., R-Charles
Jacobs, Nancy, R-Harford
Kach, A. Wade, R-Balto. Co.
Kelly, James M., R-Balto. Co.
Kittleman, Robert H., R-Howard
Klima, Martha S., R-Balto. Co.
La Vay, Richard, R-Montgomery
Leopold, John R., R-Anne Arundel
Linton, Samuel C., D-Charles
Malone, James E., Jr., D-Balto. Co.
McClenahan, Charles A., R-Somerset
McKee, Robert A., R-Washington
Minnick, Joseph J., D-Balto. Co.
Mitchell, Van T., D-Charles
Mohorovic, Jacob J., D-Balto. Co.
Morgan, John S., R-Pr. George's
Mossburg, Matthew, R-Montgomery
Murphy, Donald E., R-Balto. Co.
Murphy, Timothy D., D-Baltimore
O'Donnell, Anthony J., R-Calvert
Owings, George W. III, D-Calvert
Palumbo, Richard A., D-Pr. George's
Perry, Marsha G., D-Anne Arundel
Pitkin, Joan B., D-Pr. George's
Poole, D. Bruce, D-Washington
Ports, James F., R-Balto. Co.
Redmer Jr., Alfred, R-Balto. Co.
Rosapepe, James C., D-Pr. George's
Rudolph, David D., D-Cecil
Rzepkowski, James E., R-Anne Arundel
Schade, Victoria L., R-Anne Arundel
Schisler, Kenneth, R-Talbot
Slade, John F. III, D-St. Mary's
Snodgrass, Louise, R-Frederick
Stocksdale, Nancy, R-Carroll
Stull, Paul S., R-Frederick
Stup, J. Anita, R-Frederick
Taylor, Casper R. Jr., D-Allegany
Vallario, Joseph F. Jr., D-Pr. George's
Walkup, Mary Roe, R-Kent
Weir, Michael H., D-Balto. Co.
Wood, John F. Jr., D-St. Mary's
NAY: (67)
Arnick, John S., D-Balto. Co.
Baker, Rushern L. III, D-Pr. George's
Barve, Kumar P., D-Montgomery
Benson, Joanne C., D-Pr. George's
Billings, Leon G., D-Montgomery
Bobo, Elizabeth, D-Howard
Boston, Frank D. Jr., D-Baltimore
Branch, Talmadge, D-Baltimore
Busch, Michael E., D-Anne Arundel
Cadden, Joan, D-Anne Arundel
Campbell, James W., D-Baltimore
Clagett, Virginia P., D-Anne Arundel
Cummings, Elijah E., D-Baltimore
Davis, Clarence, D-Baltimore
Davis, Dereck, D-Prince George's
Dembrow, Dana Lee, D-Montgomery
Doory, Ann Marie, D-Baltimore
Eckardt, Adelaine C., R-Dorchester
Exum, Nathaniel, D-Pr. George's
Faulkner, Patricia, R-Montgomery
Finifter, Michael J., D-Balto. Co.
Franchot, Peter, D-Montgomery
Frank, Robert, D-Balto. Co.
Frush, Barbara, D-Pr. George's
Genn, Gilbert J., D-Montgomery
Goldwater, Marilyn, D- Montgomery
Gordon, Michael R., D-Montgomery
Grosfield, Sharon, D-Montgomery
Hammen, Peter A., D-Baltimore
Harrison, Hattie N., D-Baltimore
Hecht, Sue; D-Frederick
Heller, Henry B., D-Montgomery
Hixson, Sheila E., D-Montgomery
Howard, Carolyn J.B., D-Pr. George's
Hubbard, James W., D-Pr. George's
Hughes, Brenda, D-Pr. George's
Hughes, Don B., R-Wicomico
Hurson, John A., D-Montgomery
Kagan, Cheryl C., D-Montgomery
Kirk, Ruth M., D-Baltimore
Klausmeier, Katherine, D-Balto. Co.
Kopp, Nancy K., D-Montgomery
Krysiak, Carolyn, D-Baltimore
Love, Marianne, D-Anne Arundel
Mandel, Adrienne A., D-Montgomery
Marriott, Salima S., D-Baltimore
McHale, Brian K., D-Baltimore
McIntosh, Maggie L., D-Baltimore
Menes, Pauline H., D-Pr. George's
Mitchell, Clarence IV, D-Baltimore
Montague, Kenneth C. Jr., D-Baltimore
Morhaim, Dan K., D-Balto. Co.
Murphy, Margaret H., D-Baltimore
Muse, C. Anthony, D-Pr. George's
Nathan-Pulliam, Shirley, D-Baltimore
Oaks, Nathaniel T., D-Baltimore
Parker, Joan N., D-Baltimore
Patterson, Obie, D-Pr. George's
Pendergrass, Shane, D-Howard
Petzold, Carol S., D-Montgomery
Preis, Mary Louise, D-Harford
Rawlings, Howard P., D-Baltimore
Rosenberg, Samuel I., D-Baltimore
Shriver, Mark K., D-Montgomery
Turner, Frank S., D-Howard
Valderrama, David, D-Pr. George's
Workman, Betty, D-Allegany
NOT VOTING:
Fulton, Tony E., D-Baltimore
Proctor, James E. Jr., D-Pr. George's
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
Here are highlights of the proposed state budget for fiscal 1996 approved by the House of Delegates yesterday. The measure now moves to the Senate.
Total spending: $14.3 billion
Increase over this year: 3.6 percent
Tax increases: None.
Tax decreases: $64 million is set aside in case tax-cut bills are passed.
Pay raise: 2 percent for all state employees. Eliminates so-called "step" increases for junior state employees ($19.7 million) and instead provides $400 one-time payment for all employees ($21 million).
Disability benefits: Eliminates a $35 million program that gives $157 monthly stipends to disabled adults. Governor has promised a $10 million housing voucher program as a substitute.
Economic development: Reduces from $30 million to $20 million governor's appropriation for "Sunny Day" fund to help lure businesses, but transfers the $10 million to other business loan programs.
Education: Increases state school aid to local governments by $96 million over this year.
City schools: Withholds $5.8 million in aid to Baltimore schools in attempt to force specific management reforms.
Transportation: Directs that state spending on road and other transit projects be limited to avoid the need for a gas tax increase this four-year term.
Port: Deletes $9 million to build proposed Inner Harbor Cruise Ship Terminal.
Crime: Eliminates governor's proposal for $20 million in crime-fighting grants to Baltimore City and Prince George's and Montgomery counties, but increases overall funding for prisons, public safety and state police by nearly 8 percent.
Reserves: Sets aside $60 million for the state's "Rainy Day" emergency fund, plus $90 million to offset expected reductions in federal aid.