Congress has a chance right now to end one of the most grisly types of
abortion. Pro-lifers, it’s time to get loud.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 36, the
“Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” on a vote of 237-189. If enacted,
this bill would criminalize abortion after twenty weeks of pregnancy except in
cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother. While it’s similar to laws
already in place in a few states, it’s also similar to federal bills that failed
in 2013 and 2015.
The crucial difference between then and now, of course, is the Republican
president in the White House—one who campaigned on an explicitly pro-life
platform and has pledged to sign this bill. That means the only thing now
standing between the Pain-Capable act and the president’s desk is the
Senate—which is no small hurdle.
Why is this legislation so important? Well, as the name suggests, babies
at twenty weeks of gestation have nervous systems developed enough to feel pain.
Now, in a consistent pro-life worldview, functional abilities have nothing to do
with human dignity, and so all abortions are wrong. But abortions conducted just
two or three weeks prior to the current point of viability are particularly and
obviously gruesome.
Chances are, you may have met someone who was born prematurely at around
24 weeks. Killing any child should be unthinkable, but just before viability? In
fact, former abortionist Dr.
Anthony Levatino explains how gruesome second trimester abortions are in a
disturbing video for
LiveAction. We’ve linked to it at BreakPoint.org, but I’ll tell you this much:
It involves literally ripping a baby limb from limb.
On a purely political basis—and contrary to claims by Planned Parenthood
and others—this bill is popular on both sides of the political
aisle. A 2013 Gallup poll found just 27 percent of Americans think abortion should be
legal after the first trimester of pregnancy which, by the way, ends at 12 weeks
of gestation.
A Knights of Columbus poll in 2014 found an incredible 84 percent of Americans want to
restrict abortion to the first three months of pregnancy or less! And—are you
sitting down for this?—62
percent of those who are strongly pro-choice support a 20-week
ban. These are folks who support paying for abortions with tax dollars. As Will
Saletan at Slate admits, “even most pro-choice people aren’t sold” on killing
babies within a hairs breadth of viability.
And this legislation would also moderate America’s extremely liberal
federal abortion laws, making them more like those of other Western nations.
Now, I’m no fan of modeling America after Europe as some are,
but as Cassy Fiano explains in a video for Prager
University, Germany, Denmark, Belgium,
and France all heavily restrict or effectively ban abortions after the first
trimester. Only seven other countries have abortion laws like America, and two
of them are North Korea and China.
So, where’s our challenge? CNN reports that GOP Whip Senator John Cornyn
of Texas, when asked whether his chamber would take up this legislation, said
“That’s not a near-term priority.”
Say what? If ending abortion isn’t the reason pro-lifers vote
overwhelmingly Republican, what is? Look, for too long we’ve heard lots of
pro-life rhetoric on the GOP campaign trail, only to see the unborn take a
backseat to other priorities in Washington.
So it’s time to send a clear message to Cornyn and other Senate
Republicans: This is why your constituents elected you. Get
busy.
And for Democratic senators, we say, “Look at the poll numbers. Listen to
Americans. The majority of your voters—the pro-choice
crowd—supports this legislation.” Listen to them, not to Planned Parenthood or
the increasingly irrelevant abortion lobby. End this most grisly form of
abortion now.
Now make no mistake—all abortion should be illegal. But this is a huge
step in the right direction. Come to BreakPoint.org and we’ll help you get in
touch with your U.S. senators. It’s their job to listen. And it’s our job to
speak for those who can’t.
House Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban: Time to Make It
Law
As John urged, now is the time for action. Get in touch with your
senators. Ask them to support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection
Act
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