GOP Pushes Bill Through House Blocking D.C. Abortion Rights Law, Obama Threatens Veto

Republicans have pushed legislation through the House that would revoke a District of Columbia law barring discrimination in the city against workers who have abortions.

House passage was largely symbolic because the law takes effect Saturday unless Congress first approves legislation blocking and President Barack Obama signs it. The Senate is unlikely to consider the measure by then, and for good measure the White House has threatened a veto should it ever reach the president's desk.

House approval Thursday came on a mostly party-line 228-192 vote. It served as a prelude to a renewed effort likely later this year, when conservatives are expected to use budget legislation financing the city government to try blocking the local statute.

Lawmakers are casting the issue as more than a dispute over one community's ordinances. Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district's non-voting representative in Congress, says backers are looking to "resume the war against women.''

But Congresswoman Ann Wagner, a Republican from Missouri, says she's defending "the rights of religious institutions and pro-life companies to honor their faith and respect the sanctity of life.''