July 14, 2014

U.S. Senate Democrats push bill to nullify abortion limits nationwide

UPDATE
 
 
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing on radical bill to nullify virtually all abortion limits nationwide

National Right to Life President Carol Tobias will testify against "Abortion Without Limits Until Birth" measure

WASHINGTON – Four months before the mid-term congressional election, Senate democrats are pushing into the national spotlight "the most radical pro-abortion bill ever considered by Congress," said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of state right-to-life organizations.

Tobias is one of only two non-congressional witnesses who will testify against the so-called "Women's Health Protection Act" (S. 1696), at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, July 15, 2014, at 10 AM EDT.

S. 1696 was introduced in November, 2013, with much fanfare from major pro-abortion advocacy groups, who have since featured the bill in fundraising solicitations to their memberships. A story published by National Right to Life News on November 20, 2013, which explains the radical sweep of the bill, is posted here: http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2013/11/pro-abortion-coalition-unveils-sweeping-new-national-abortion-on-demand-legislation-in-congress/#.U8AepCieb4Z

A copy of S. 1696 (PDF format) may be viewed or downloaded here:
http://www.nrlc.org/uploads/foca/S1696WHPA.pdf

S. 1696 is currently sponsored by 35 Democrat senators, including the chief sponsor, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), who will chair the July 15 hearing. A House companion bill, H.R. 3471, currently has 125 cosponsors, all Democrats. Always-current lists of cosponsors, arranged by state, are posted on the NRLC Legislative Action Center at:
Like most congressional committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee offers video coverage of its hearings, which can be accessed either live or after the fact via the Committee website at http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/

We do not know yet whether the hearing will also be covered by C-SPAN.
The bill is an updated and expanded version of the old "Freedom of Choice Act" that was championed by Barack Obama when he was a senator. The new bill would invalidate nearly all existing state limitations on abortion, and prohibit states from adopting new limitations in the future, including various types of laws specifically upheld as constitutionally permissible by the U.S. Supreme Court. Among the laws that the bill would nullify are requirements to provide women seeking abortion with specific information on their unborn child and on alternatives to abortion, laws providing reflection periods (waiting periods), laws allowing medical professionals to opt out of providing abortions, laws limiting the performance of abortions to licensed physicians, bans on elective abortion after 20 weeks, meaningful limits on abortion after viability, and bans on the use of abortion as a method of sex selection. These laws generally have broad public support in the states in which they are enacted, including support from substantial majorities of women.

The bill would also invalidate most previously enacted federal limits on abortion, including federal conscience protection laws and most, if not all, limits on government funding of abortion.

Regarding the bill, Blumenthal told Roll Call last November, "As the election approaches, I think the voters are going to want to know where legislators stand on these issues." Tobias commented, "We believe that many voters will be appalled to learn that nearly two-thirds of Senate Democrats have already cosponsored a bill to impose nationwide the extreme ideological doctrine that elective abortion must not be limited in any meaningful way, at any stage of pregnancy."
 
In her testimony, Tobias will call on Senate Democrats to also allow consideration of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670), sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), which has an even greater number of Senate cosponsors (41), and which duplicates legislation that has already passed the House of Representatives (H.R. 1797). The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would generally protect unborn children in the sixth month and later, by which point they are capable of experiencing great pain during abortions.