But 154 Lawmakers vote to Defend Current D.C. Policy of Legal Abortion for any Reason Until Birth
In a landmark vote, a solid majority of the U.S. House of
Representatives today voted to reject the current abortion policy of the
District of Columbia, which permits legal abortion for any reason until
birth, and to replace it with a law that would generally prevent
abortion after 20 weeks fetal age.
The legislation is the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child
Protection Act (H.R. 3803). The vote was 220-154 in favor of the bill – a
strong majority (a 66 vote margin), although short of the two-thirds
vote required under the fast-track procedure utilized today (“suspension
of the rules”).
“Today’s groundbreaking majority vote constitutes a giant step towards
this bill ultimately becoming law -- perhaps after the replacement of
some of the lawmakers who today were unwilling to protect pain-capable
unborn children in the sixth month of pregnancy and later,” said Douglas
Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC), the national federation of state right-to-life organizations.
“154 House members will have to explain to their constituents why they
voted to endorse a policy of legal abortion for any reason, until the
moment of birth, in their nation’s capital.”
H.R. 3803 contains findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization (if not
earlier), the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain.
(This is equivalent to 22 weeks in the alternate “LMP” or “weeks of
pregnancy” dating system used by ob-gyns and abortion providers.) The
bill prohibits abortion after that point, except when an acute physical
condition endangers the life of the mother. Nine states have already
enacted abortion limitations based on the pain suffered by unborn
children; no court orders have blocked enforcement of any of those laws.
The District Clause of the U.S. Constitution (found in Article I,
Section 8) provides that “Congress shall . . . exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District . . .” Like any
other “legislation,” of course, laws pertaining to the federal district
are subject to the president’s review. Asked about H.R. 3803 today,
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded, “The president’s
position on a woman’s reproductive freedom is well known,” and went on
to refer to the legislation as “controversial, divisive social
legislation.”
On July 30, a federal judge in Arizona upheld as constitutional a new
state law that generally prohibits abortion after 18 weeks fetal age (20
weeks of pregnancy) – two weeks earlier than H.R. 3803. U.S. District
Judge James A. Teilborg, a Clinton appointee, found that “by 20 weeks,
sensory receptors develop all over the child’s body” and “when provoked
by painful stimuli, such as a needle, the child reacts, as measured by
increases in the child’s stress hormones, heart rate, and blood
pressure.” Judge Teilborg also noted, “Given the nature of D&Es and
induction abortions . . . this Court concludes that the State has shown a
legitimate interest in limiting abortions past 20 weeks gestational
age.”
Also today, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the prime sponsor of the Senate
companion bill (S. 2103, which has 30 cosponsors), filed the bill as an
amendment to an unrelated bill that is currently pending on the Senate
floor, S. 3414.
Source: National Right to Life Committee