IT'S UP TO SENATE ON KEY VETO OVERRIDE

By the overwhelming vote of 296-132, the U.S. House of Representatives has once again overridden President Clinton's veto of the bill banning the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion. A vote of two-thirds of both houses of Congress is needed to override a presidential veto.

Included in the overwhelming House margin were 219 Republicans and 77 Democrats, including even pro-choice lawmakers such as Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

Action now moves to the Senate, where the veto override attempt has previously fallen short, most recently by three votes. In the Senate, 67 votes are required to meet the two-thirds margin. Last time out, senators voted to override by a margin of 64-36.

There is reason to hope that those precious additional votes may yet be found. For one thing, the timing of the Senate vote may tell the tale. Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., plans to schedule the override vote for September, just weeks before the November election in which one-third of senators stand for re-election. Senators such as Democrats Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin face stiff challenges from aggressive Republicans who are calling on them to account for their previous votes to sustain the veto. At least one Republican who voted to sustain before -- Jim Jeffords of Vermont -- is reported to be considering a switch. It will be interesting to see whether these and other senators wish to put themselves through this again, this time literally days before a general election.

Both of Missouri's Republican senators, Kit Bond and John Ashcroft, have consistently voted to outlaw this procedure and to override the veto and can be expected to do so again.

At stake is the persistence, in a country as great as ours, of what Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., called the "barbaric butchery of partial-birth abortion." Hyde went on to add that "We betray our own humanity if we don't."

Hyde is right. Americans are watching closely, with an eye toward the November elections, as senators prepare for this vote.