The Senate is in debate about a proposed legislation that would help combat sex trafficking. What was once thought to be a purely bipartisan issue has turned into a partisan debate over a particular aspect of the bill: abortion.
Republicans created the bill, called the S. 178 or Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, back in January and both parties, as well as over 200 outside organizations, were in agreement to pass the bill. However, on Tuesday the Democrats found a portion of the bill that contained conditions similar to the Hyde Amendment, which does not allow for federal funding in abortions.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday that the Democratic party was unaware of such language in the bill. He claimed that the Republicans deliberately misled the Democratic party.
"These provisions, my caucus did not know about. The bill will not come off this floor as long as that language is in it," said Reid regarding the abortion segment.
The Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn denied any intentional actions of deception.
"You can blame it on staff, blame it on whoever you want to blame it on, but we didn't know it was in the bill. The bill will not come off this floor as long as that language is in the bill," said Reid.
Members of the Democratic party, who share the same views as Reid, believe that the bill should be struck down for its limitation of federally funded abortion. Opponents of the bill argue that the opposition to abortion will be harmful to those rescued from sex trafficking.
The proposed act "imposes an additional penalty of $5,000 on any non-indigent person or entity convicted of a crime" that involves slavery, trafficking of people, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children, and human smuggling. It also calls for training and education for Department of Justice programs and task forces aimed to stop human trafficking.
The bill further addresses the problem of human trafficking by offering larger restitution to victims of sex trafficking and harsher penalties for johns, or solicitors of sex trafficking. Currently, criminal sanctions do not include johns or patrons of child sex trafficking. The bill also "expands the definition of 'child abuse' under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to include human trafficking and the production of child pornography."
Human trafficking is a growing problem globally. Some Republicans believe that the dispute over the legislation misses the larger picture of stopping the crime, while Reid and others believe the alleged deception warrants the bill be struck down.
