As the U.S. Senate debated an ethics bill tonight, anti-abortion groups and other organizations of social conservatives were unleashing a major cyber-lobbying effort to amend the bill, which they say is "written to isolate pro-family and conservative Christian organizations."

They were getting some help from a longtime friend of Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose scandal spurred the reform moves.

The groups say that proposed restrictions and regulation of "grassroots lobbying" would put heavy burdens on citizen groups wanting to lobby Congress. They worry that the section in question defines a constituent contacting a lawmaker as "grassroots lobbying."

The National Right to Life Committee sent an "urgent congressional alert" this afternoon criticizing the ethics bill:

Its sponsors say that its purpose is to tighten up regulation of lobbyists in Washington, D.C., in response to certain lobbying scandals of the past several years, associated with Jack Abramoff and others. But within the 56-page measure, certain special-interest groups are trying to smuggle in sweeping new restrictions on free speech regarding what is going on in Congress.

Focus on the Family said to send a fax, the American Family Association, urged e-mails and telephone calls to senators and discussion about the bill in Sunday school classes. The AFA told its members:

Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don't want to hear from you. They don't want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.

All the groups support an amendment to the ethics bill sponsored by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, that would eliminate the restrictions on "grassroots lobbying."

Grover Norquist, a long-time Abramoff associate, supports that amendment, too. He runs Americans for Tax Reform, a non-profit that found itself smack in the middle of the lobbying scandal. ATR says the lobbying restrictions are a "de facto gag order against legitimate grassroots activism."

The clear intent of this language is to frighten legitimate grassroots activist organizations into inaction. The result would be that much communication between members of Congress and their constituents would come to a halt.

In June, the Washington Post reported how Abramoff secretly gave money to non-profits like Americans for Tax Reform.

According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. As the money passed through, Norquist's organization kept a small cut, e-mails show.

A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds; the council's president has told Senate investigators that Abramoff often asked her to lobby a senior Interior Department official on his behalf. The committee report said the Justice Department should further investigate the organization's dealings with the department and its former deputy secretary, J. Steven Griles.

The Senate adjourned for the night without taking final action on the ethics bill.