(CNSNews.com) - A measure approved by a House of Representatives panel would "basically gut" the U.S. policy of banning foreign aid to groups that provide or promote abortions, a conservative analyst charged on Wednesday.

A liberal group called the bill "a much-needed dose of common sense" in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

The controversy rises from a funding measure for the 2008 fiscal year passed on Tuesday by the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said the bill "provides funding critical to the war on terror and our long-term security at home."

While the $34.24 billion budget increases spending by $2.95 billion over the previous year, one section of the bill would provide U.S.-donated contraceptives "to family planning organizations that have been denied USAID funding," the New York Democrat's statement indicated.

"The bill provides contraceptives only -- not financial assistance -- to clinics and [non-governmental organizations]," Lowey said. She added that the measure keeps intact the Bush administration's Mexico City Policy, which prohibits funding to organizations that provide or promote abortions.

However, Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), told Cybercast News Service on Wednesday that Lowey -- a former chairwoman of the House Pro-Choice Caucus -- is in fact taking direct aim at that policy.

Johnson noted that under the current policy - which opponents call the "global gag rule" - any organization wanting U.S. funding for family planning programs abroad "has to sign a contract promising not to promote abortion as a method of birth control, not perform abortions or lobby to legalize abortions except for cases endangering the life of the mother, or rape or incest."

The language in the new bill, he charged, would "basically gut" the Mexico City Policy and "render it completely meaningless." Groups "that see it as their mission to legalize abortion" would become eligible for U.S. grants, Johnson added.

The pro-life advocate says he has seen the text of the bill, and that the wording makes it clear that as long as some of the assistance is earmarked for contraceptives, the funding cannot be held up under the Mexico City Policy. The text has not yet been released publicly, and Lowey's office did not return multiple calls Wednesday.

"Let's say that I have a group in Kenya, and we want to legalize abortion," he said. "We could get a grant under Lowey's language by saying, 'Give us $100 million, and we promise to use 10 percent of it for contraceptives; we'll use the other 90 percent to promote our agenda,' and that would be fine under the current language."

Johnson added that Lowey is trying to frame the debate around the use of contraceptives, "but really, that's not what the amendment says. Any group that wants to distribute contraceptives has no problem with the current policy. The ones that have problems are those committed to promoting abortion, like Planned Parenthood affiliates.

"We don't think these groups should be getting any kind of assistance," the NRLC analyst stated. "There are hundreds and hundreds of other groups standing in line to get this money, and many of them are happy to agree to the U.S. conditions."

'Personal hobby horse'

Terri Bartlett, vice president for public policy at the liberal group Population Action International, had a different view of the subcommittee's action, calling it "a much-needed dose of common sense when it comes to U.S. assistance on family planning and HIV/AIDS."

"The evidence is overwhelming that ... contraceptives are vital to saving mothers' lives and reducing abortion," she said in a news release. "But for several years, U.S. policies have flown in the face of these realities and of what we know works.

"Exempting contraceptives from the global gag rule is something that members of Congress from both sides of the abortion debate can and should agree on" because "contraceptives prevent abortion, plain and simple," Bartlett stated.

"We may not agree on the right to choose, but we can all agree on the right to contraceptives," she added. "Cutting off the flow of contraceptives to women and couples in impoverished countries makes no sense at all"

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, the "Mexico City Policy" bars U.S. funding from going to international groups that support abortion, even with their own money, through direct services, counseling or lobbying activities.

The policy was first implemented by former President Ronald Reagan at a population conference in Mexico City in 1984, lifted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and reinstated by President George W. Bush during his first days in the White House.

On May 4 of this year, the president sent a letter to Democratic leaders in Congress vowing to "veto any legislation that weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage."

"I am concerned that this year, the Congress may consider legislation that could substantially change federal policies and laws on abortion, and allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life," Bush wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

"I am writing to make sure that there is no misunderstanding of my views on these important issues," he added.

One hundred fifty-five Republicans in the House and 34 in the Senate have since signed letters to Bush, promising to vote to sustain vetoes of spending bills if they weaken restrictions on abortion.

As a result, Johnson predicted that "the fur may fly" over the subcommittee action, but "we expect the president's policy to remain intact."

Still, Johnson added that he doesn't believe the measure is an attempt by Democrats to make abortion an issue in the upcoming presidential election.

"This is Lowey's personal hobby horse," he stated, adding that she and her allies "hate the Mexico City policy and are going to take a shot at it, even though they've got a steep hill to climb."

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