House Overwhelmingly Approves Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 2, 2003
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban on partial-birth abortions and now the focus turns to the Senate to approve the bill and send it to President Bush for his signature.
Despite threats from pro-abortion groups that they will take the ban to court once Bush signs it, the House voted for the pro-life legislation 281-142.
Both houses passed the ban earlier this year. However, the Senate added a resolution backing Roe v. Wade that a conference committee removed on Tuesday. Both the House and Senate are required to approve the committee's report before the ban can be sent to President Bush.
During the debate, abortion advocates said the bill was unconstitutional and the Supreme Court will overturn the legislation as it did with a Nebraska ban in 2000.
"This conference report is patently unconstitutional. The supporters of this report are trying to paper over a Supreme Court decision," said pro-abortion Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). "They have added dozens of pages of Congressional finding that conclude partial-birth abortion is never medically necessary. It will fail in the courts."
Pro-life lawmakers have reworked the definition of the partial-birth abortion procedure to better comply with Supreme Court requirements as given in the Stenberg v. Carhart decision in 2000 that overturned Nebraska's partial-birth abortion ban
Pro-life Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) said legislators have included a lengthy findings section with extensive medical research showing that partial-birth abortions are never medically indicated for women or to end the lives of babies with physical disabilities.
