President Bush has reaffirmed to Congress his intention to veto any bill which would federally fund abortion according to this article at NRO.

President Bush took the extraordinary step of preemptively issuing a veto threat against an entire category of potential legislative tactics on Thursday afternoon. In a letter to congressional leaders, Bush warned that any move to use appropriations riders or the budget process to provide support for abortion, or to undermine existing protections against such support, would be vetoed.

“I am concerned that this year Congress may consider legislation that could substantially change Federal policies and laws on abortion,” Bush wrote, “and allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life. I am writing to make sure there is no misunderstanding of my views on these important issues.” His letter left no room for misunderstanding. “I will veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion,” he concluded, “or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage.”

The letter is unusual, but not unprecedented. Indeed, in June of 1991, President George H. W. Bush sent Democratic leaders of Congress a very similar letter, making much the same pledge. This year, in the wake of the Democratic takeover of Congress, Republicans in both the House and Senate sent the White House letters requesting that the president send such a message, as they put it, “reaffirming your strong pro-life policy convictions and serving notice that you will veto any legislation that weakens present pro-life policy.”

These letters from House and Senate members had 155 and 34 signatures, respectively, which would be enough to uphold a veto in both houses. In effect, this means the Democrats can know in advance that a move to weaken existing pro-life measures or encourage the destruction of nascent life would not make it through the process, and would only hold up the relevant budget bills.

If Congress is aware that tacking federal funding for abortion into the budget bill will cause a veto with no chance to override, why waste time and taxpayer money. Draw a seperate bill and let it stand or fall on its own.

The line item veto looks better all the time, not just for this President but for all to come.

Read on.
A copy of the letter President Bush sent to Congress is available here.