THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996            TAG: 9609270558
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   59 lines

SENATE FAILS TO OVERRIDE VETO OF LATE-TERM ABORTION BAN VIRGINIA'S SENATORS WERE DELUGED WITH CALLS ABOUT THE ISSUE.

In what could prove to be an uneasy victory for President Clinton, the Senate voted Thursday to uphold his veto of a bill that would have barred late-term, ``partial-birth'' abortions.

Although abortion foes were disappointed, the vote could give them a powerful campaign issue against members who supported the president's veto.

The 57-41 vote to overturn the veto fell nine votes short of the two-thirds majority required. Senators had voted 54-44 last December to ban the medical procedure, known as intact dilation and extraction, used in some cases to terminate pregnancies. The president promptly vetoed the bill, saying it failed to protect the life or health of the prospective mother.

Republican congressional leaders, whose national convention platform reiterated the party's support for the bill, waited until the last days of this Congress to bring it up for an override attempt, hoping to maximize pressure on members who initially opposed the ban.

Only three senators - none of whom is running for re-election this year - switched their votes in favor of the ban this time around. They were Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sam Nunn of Georgia, and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

The House had voted last week to override the president's veto.

The political battle has been fueled in part by the rather gruesome nature of the dilation and extraction procedure used to abort fetuses, usually in the mid- to late stages of pregnancy. It most often is employed when the fetus is clearly identifiable as a human baby.

Like most debates and votes on questions involving abortion, Thursday's Senate action triggered a flood of emotional calls to Virginia's two senators.

Staffers for Republican John W. Warner, who voted to override Clinton's veto, tallied about 2,500 calls on the issue this week, the overwhelming majority of them in favor of Warner's position. The office of Democrat Charles S. Robb, who supported the veto, reported a similarly heavy volume of calls.

Groups of Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians, including the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, have led a long effort to get the ``partial-birth'' abortion procedure outlawed.

In Robb's case, some of Thursday's callers suggested the senator and his staff would be damned by God for his vote.

And in both Virginians' offices, the calling continued even as senators were voting. When Warner did not quickly answer the roll, there was a rush of calls to his office inquiring about his whereabouts and checking to make sure he wasn't going to change his position. When he arrived on the floor and cast his vote, the phones stopped ringing. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by staff writer Dale Eisman

and Knight-Ridder News Service. ILLUSTRATION: HOW THEY VOTED

A ``yes'' vote is a vote to override the president's veto.

John W. Warner, R-Va.Yes

Charles S. Robb, D-Va.No

Jesse A. Helms, R-N.C.Yes

Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C.Yes by CNB