Less than a month ago, 16th congressional district Congressman Don Manzullo helped frustrate some leftwingers on Capitol Hill.

How did a member of the minority party manage to do this?

“So why, then, did the atmosphere feel more like a crisis-pregnancy center than a pro-choice hearing?” as Ann wrote on Feministing.com.

She answers her own question like this:

“…Maybe because, frustratingly, 18 of the 20 committee members with a 100-percent rating from NARAL didn’t bother to show up…”

“NARAL,” in case you don’t follow pro-abortion organizations, stands for National Abortion Rights Action League.

Can’t get much more openly pro-abortion than that, can one?

Here’s some more of a very long article about last Wednesday’s hearing (I’ve added paragraphing to make it easier to read.):

“Most of the members who took time to attend the hearing were anti-choice Republicans who support Bush’s policy of denying women and girls in developing nations access to family planning resources.

“Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen lauded the Gag Rule as an effort to ‘protect the human rights of all.’

“Rep. Steve Chabot told the committee that his birthday is the day Roe v. Wade was decided, so the Gag Rule issue hits him especially hard. (Not as hard as it hits women in Africa, I’d wager…)

“Rep. Donald Manzullo talked about the crisis-pregnancy center he and his wife opened in his home district in Illinois.

“And Rep. Chris Smith went so far as to put ultrasound images up on the screens on either end of the room and draw our attention to ‘the child kicking, catapulting in the womb.’

“It was all I could do to keep from retching.”

That’s as mainstream as it got.