Republicans seek US abortion ban after 5 months
Source: Agencies |
June 19, 2013, Wednesday
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REPUBLICANS in the House of Representatives yesterday were making their most concerted effort of the year to change US abortion law with legislation that would ban almost all abortions after a fetus reaches the age of 20 weeks.
The "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," expected to pass late in the day, would be a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions up to the time a fetus becomes viable. Fetal viability is generally considered to be at least 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The measure is expected to be ignored by Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, who call the bill an "assault on a woman's right to choose." The measure would faces a veto threat.
Even if the policy were to become law, it would almost certainly face a legal challenge. That is a prospect supporters hope for as part of the ultimate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Either of the two sides in the abortion debate has agreed at least on the importance of the measure.
Douglas Johnson, National Right to Life Committee legislative director, said it was the "most significant piece of pro-life legislation to come before the House since the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act" that was enacted in 2003.
Representative John Conyers, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the bill "clearly is an attack on women's constitutional right to choose and is one of the most far-reaching bans on abortion this committee has ever considered."
Some 11 state legislatures have passed similar measures. Several have been challenged in court and a federal court last month struck down a slightly different Arizona law that banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Anti-abortion groups said the time frame in the House bill and other state laws, which ban abortion 20 weeks after conception, is equal to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The sponsors of the bill also cited evidence - which opponents say is disputed - that fetuses can feel pain after five months.
The "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," expected to pass late in the day, would be a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions up to the time a fetus becomes viable. Fetal viability is generally considered to be at least 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The measure is expected to be ignored by Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, who call the bill an "assault on a woman's right to choose." The measure would faces a veto threat.
Even if the policy were to become law, it would almost certainly face a legal challenge. That is a prospect supporters hope for as part of the ultimate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Either of the two sides in the abortion debate has agreed at least on the importance of the measure.
Douglas Johnson, National Right to Life Committee legislative director, said it was the "most significant piece of pro-life legislation to come before the House since the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act" that was enacted in 2003.
Representative John Conyers, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the bill "clearly is an attack on women's constitutional right to choose and is one of the most far-reaching bans on abortion this committee has ever considered."
Some 11 state legislatures have passed similar measures. Several have been challenged in court and a federal court last month struck down a slightly different Arizona law that banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Anti-abortion groups said the time frame in the House bill and other state laws, which ban abortion 20 weeks after conception, is equal to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The sponsors of the bill also cited evidence - which opponents say is disputed - that fetuses can feel pain after five months.
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