In the News

WASHINGTON — After a fierce fight, full of gender politics, the House passed a Republican bill on Wednesday to combat violence against women, over objections from President Obama and other Democrats, who said it would reduce protections for many battered women, including lesbians, American Indians and illegal immigrants. 

 

The 222-to-205 vote clears the way for negotiations with the Senate, which passed a more expansive version last month by a vote of 68 to 31. 

 

Some version of the legislation is likely to become law before elections this fall. But first, Democrats said, they want to force the likely Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, to choose between the House bill and the Senate measure, which was approved with support from 15 Republicans. 

 

Mr. Obama threatened to veto the House bill. But it passed, with support from 216 Republicans and 6 Democrats. Twenty-three Republicans joined 182 Democrats in voting against the bill. 

 

The bill would reauthorize programs operated under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which has provided lifesaving assistance to hundreds of thousands of women. In the past, it was renewed with bipartisan support. 

 

Representatives Sandy Adams, Republican of Florida, and Gwen Moore, Democrat of Wisconsin, both said they had experienced domestic violence, but they took radically different positions. Mrs. Adams, a former deputy sheriff in Orange County, is the chief sponsor of the House bill, while Ms. Moore was one of the most outspoken critics. 

 

Mrs. Adams said Democrats had “created a phony war on women to score political points.” 

 

“Turning this reauthorization into a political issue is not only wrong,” she said. “It is dangerous. We can’t allow domestic violence to become a campaign issue.” 

 

Ms. Moore said that under the bill “abusers’ rights prevail over the rights of the victim,” and she assailed the measure as “a direct assault on women’s lives.” 

 

Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Democrats were exploiting the legislation for political gain, “instead of working with Republicans to protect women from domestic violence, rape and stalking.” 

 

But Democrats said major provisions were opposed by groups representing women, law enforcement officers and churches. The American Bar Association also opposed the House bill, calling it “a retreat from the battle against domestic and sexual violence.” 

 

Democrats said they were dismayed by the House bill, but delighted at the prospect that Republicans would alienate female voters by pushing the legislation in this election year — after battles over contraception and other issues of concern to women. 

 

The House bill omits three provisions of the Senate measure. One would allow Indian tribal courts to try certain non-Indians accused of committing crimes of domestic violence on reservations. Another would expand the number of temporary visas for illegal immigrant victims of domestic violence. The last would extend protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic violence. 

 

Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, said: “The House bill rolls back protections for battered spouses and victims of serious crimes such as rape and sexual assault. It does so by weakening or repealing provisions that have had near-unanimous support of Democrats and Republicans in years past.” 

 

Representative Rubén Hinojosa, Democrat of Texas, said the bill “shifts power into the hands of abusers.” 

 

But Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, said “it really pains me” to hear Democrats assert that Republicans do not care about domestic violence. 

 

“We are strengthening the Violence Against Women Act, not weakening it,” Ms. Foxx said. “We want to see women served better and money spent better. Our goal is to ensure that more money is spent on direct services and less on administrative bureaucracy.” 

 

Representative Lynn Jenkins, Republican of Kansas, said, “Any attempt to exploit this bill as a partisan political issue is contemptible.” 

 

Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that the bill — even with last-minute changes by House Republican leaders — was “worse than current law.” It would, he said, make it more difficult for immigrants to obtain visas so they could help law enforcement officials investigate and prosecute domestic violence and similar crimes. 

 

Leaders of 31 religious groups, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Episcopal Church, opposed immigration provisions of the House bill. 

 

These provisions “would actually roll back protections in current law for battered noncitizens, making them more vulnerable and, in some cases, endangering their lives,” the groups said in a letter to House leaders. 

 

Democrats tried unsuccessfully to expand protections for gays and lesbians. 

 

“Studies show that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims experience domestic violence at roughly the same rate as the general population,” but they are less likely to receive help, said Representative Jared Polis, Democrat of Colorado.