During a hearing today on a bill sponsored by Senate Democrats to push a bill that wipes out virtually every pro-life law across the country, a pro-life leader challenged them to make good on their “pro-choice” claims.
During the hearing, Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, told lawmakers that if they really want a vote on this radical legislation, they should agree to a vote on a bill the House passed that would ban abortions after 20 weeks.
The House of Representatives has twice approved a bill that bans abortions from after 20-weeks of pregnancy up to the day of birth. But Democratic Leader Harry Reid refuses to allow a vote in the Senate.
Here is her challenge:
It is apparent that those who crafted this bill believe that, where abortion is involved, immediate access to abortion, at any stage of pregnancy, is the only thing that matters.
Mr. Chairman, in a November interview with the newspaper Roll Call, you said, “As the election approaches, I think the voters are going to want to know where legislators stand on these issues.” But, to know where every senator stands on S. 1696 would require a vote by the full Senate. By all means, let’s see where they stand — but, in the spirit of “pro-choice,” how about giving the Senate a choice as well?
On May 13, Senator Lindsey Graham proposed an agreement under which S. 1696, which has 35 cosponsors, would receive a vote of the full Senate, along with a separate vote on his Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, S. 1670, which has 41 cosponsors.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would protect unborn children, in the sixth month and later, with narrow exceptions. By this stage in their development, if not sooner, there is abundant evidence that unborn babies will experience great pain as their arms and legs are wrenched off by brute force in the common second-trimester dismemberment procedure known as D & E.
Mr. Chairman, in your response to Senator Graham’s proposal, you made clear your opposition to his bill. But you went on to say, and I quote, “I am more than happy to cast a vote on it, along with the Women’s Health Protection Act, and I hope they will be considered. This issue deserves to be before this body.”
We agree! We challenge you, and the leadership of the majority party, to allow the American people to see where every senator stands on both of these major abortion-related bills. Let the American people see which bill reflects the values of each member of the United States Senate—life or death for unborn children?
So far, 13 states have enacted 20-week abortion limits based on the unborn child’s ability to feel pain. The U.S. House passed companion legislation in June 2013 by a vote of 228-196.
Click here to sign up for daily pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
Recent national polling by Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News all found that a plurality or majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks of gestation and that women support the measure in higher proportions than men.
A National Right to Life Committee poll found that 63 percent of Americans, and 70 percent of women, support a ban on post-fetal pain abortion. The same poll also found that American women, by an overwhelming majority of 62-27 percent, would be more likely to vote for lawmakers who support this bill.
