Nov. 15, The House of Representatives killed an industry-sponsored bill which would have made it harder for Americans to erase their debts by filing for bankruptcy.

The bill, supported by credit card companies, banks, auto lenders and retailers, was rejected by a vote of 243-172. The defeat came in the face of Republican Party leaders and many of their biggest financial supporters.

The defeat may have been a surprise to President George W. Bush, who vowed to sign the bill if it went before his office. But what is even more surprising is how and why the bill was defeated in the first place-abortion.

Although most Democrats opposed the bankruptcy bill, a large amount of the opposition came from within the Republican Party, with 87 Republicans going against their own party.

Republican anti-abortion lawmakers argued that a single provision of the bill was unfair for anti-abortion activists.

The provision, written by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., would have prohibited anti-abortion protesters from filing bankruptcy to avoid paying criminal fines.

After the provision was removed by a majority vote that same day, the bankruptcy bill still did not pass. Democrats rejected the bill, calling it an attempt by Republicans to get political coverage from the banking and credit card industry.

The bill would make it harder for consumers in debt to seek protection against their creditors. Creditors and retailers have been lobbying hard for a bankruptcy bill like this one saying they want to stop fraud and abuse by consumers. But, on the other hand, those same credit card companies and banks are always luring consumers into debt with pre-approved cards, high borrowing limits and low interest rates that increase over time.

It's contradicting when companies like MBNA, the nations biggest credit card company, shows a rise in stock value and complains about losing money because of credit card abuse.

Special interest groups and tieing special interest provisions to bills is nothing new. The new Homeland Security Bill has seven special interest provisions attached to it by Republicans. It just passed in the Senate with a vote of 90-9.

We may never know exactly why the well-being of abortion protesters found its way into a proposed bankruptcy bill that might affect millions of Americans, but the thought of it is truly absurd. When it comes to a bill involving millions of Americans facing hard times, lawmakers need to think about the public, not when they think life begins.

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