Abortion Debate Still Tangled in Bankruptcy Bill

[NVMojo]

(Medical bankruptcies are one of the main reasons someone files. Frist's family legacy came from for-profit healthcare chains)

WASHINGTON — When Randall Terry filed for bankruptcy in 1998, he probably had little idea he was setting in motion a series of events that years later would entangle a congressional push to rewrite bankruptcy laws with a seemingly unrelated issue: abortion.

Terry, the founder of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue who led high-profile protests against abortion clinics in the 1980s and '90s, said he was filing for bankruptcy to avoid paying court damages resulting from his confrontational tactics.

"I will never let a cent of my money be seized to support the killing of the unborn," he was quoted as saying in news reports and court documents.

Six years later, in a legacy of those sometimes violent clashes over abortion clinic access, the fate of a much-debated bankruptcy bill may depend on whether Congress considers it appropriate for antiabortion protesters to file for bankruptcy to avoid paying fines.

Overhauling the bankruptcy code is the top item on the Senate's agenda as Congress reconvenes Monday after a week's recess. It is one of the changes to the legal system that Republicans are eager to pass before plunging into thornier debates over Social Security and spending bills.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has set aside this week to debate the bill. "I would like to … move to bankruptcy if at all possible. We got very, very close last year," Frist said this month.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bankrupt28feb28,1,6187269,print.story?coll=la-headlines-nation