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Senate Sends an Abortion Ban to Bush

Posted by Jeff (Guest) jeff@attoz.com - Tuesday, October 21 2003, 23:44:58 (EDT) from 69.14.23.37 - d14-69-37-23.try.wideopenwest.com Commercial - Windows XP - Netscape Website: Website title:

Senate Sends an Abortion Ban to Bush Tue Oct 21, 6:09 PM ET By Joanne Kenen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday easily approved a ban on so-called "partial birth" abortion and sent the bill to President Bush (news - web sites) for his signature, moving the debate from Congress to the courthouse. The 64-34 vote pleased anti-abortion groups but pro-abortion rights groups were poised to sue to get the legislation declared unconstitutional. If it withstands legal challenges, the ban would constitute the first federal limit on a type of abortion since the 1973 Roe versus Wade Supreme Court ruling backing abortion rights. The National Right to Life Committee (news - web sites) said Congress was "inviting the Supreme Court to re-examine that extreme and inhumane" 1973 decision. "This is very important legislation that will end an abhorrent practice and continue to build a culture of life in America. I look forward to signing it into law," Bush said in a statement issued in Singapore. The House and Senate have held prolonged and emotional debates, accompanied by graphic charts, on this issue several times since 1995. It has passed by large margins but then-President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) vetoed it because it did not contain an exception to protect the health of a woman. Backers of the ban contend that the procedure is never needed to protect a woman's health, although the measure does contain an exemption to save a woman's life. "This is a radical, radical thing that is about to happen here," said California Democrat Barbara Boxer, arguing that the real motive of ban proponents was to score political points. But Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum, a lead sponsor of the bill, said allowing "partial birth abortions" contributed to the degradation of American culture. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, described the procedure as "barbaric" and outside mainstream American medicine. Under the bill, a doctor could face up to two years in prison as well as civil lawsuits for performing a "partial birth" abortion, defined as intentionally killing a fetus that has been partially delivered. Sponsors say it entails sticking a scissors or other sharp object into the base of the skull. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood (news - web sites), and other abortion rights groups have pledged to file lawsuits, in part because the bill has no health exemption. "This ban makes no exception for a woman's health even though it outlaws medically necessary abortions. It is unconstitutional and we will pursue every legal option, including a federal lawsuit, to prevent it from taking effect," the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said. Critics also say the bill is drafted in a way that will ban many abortion techniques, not one particular procedure. Courts have struck down similar state statutes, although sponsors of this version say they have taken prior court objections into account and believe it will be upheld. Sponsors of the bill said they drafted it to specifically address one "gruesome" procedure that is performed most often in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy. They also included congressional findings that the procedure is never medically necessary to protect a woman's health, which they believe will enable it to pass the constitutional test. The two sides disagree how common the procedure is, but the National Right to Life Committee estimates several thousand are performed each year, "mostly on healthy babies of healthy mothers." --------------------- -- Jeff - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: Senate Sends an Abortion Ban to Bush Jeff - Tuesday, October 21 2003, 23:44:58 (EDT) Re: Senate Sends an Abortion Ban to Bush farid - 10/22 01:15

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