Planned Parenthood Halts Bill to Ban Dismemberment Abortions Tearing Off Babies’ Limbs

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Apr 12, 2016   |   12:18PM   |   Harrisburg, PA

Pro-life advocates are persevering this week despite abortion activists’ concerted efforts to kill a Pennsylvania bill protecting unborn babies from horrific dismemberment abortions.

Pennsylvania House Bill 1948, sponsored by state Rep. Kathy Rapp, would ban brutal dismemberment abortions that tear unborn babies limb from limb and prohibit abortions after 20 weeks when unborn babies can feel pain.

The state House planned to vote on the bill on Monday, but the vote was postponed to an unknown time, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin told the newspaper that leaders decided to delay the vote because they are working through issues with the bill.

Despite the unexpected delay, pro-life advocates believe there is hope for the protective measure.

Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, told LifeNews that many Pennsylvanians want unborn babies to be protected from brutal dismemberment abortions.

“Throughout the Commonwealth, people’s eyes are being opened to the tragic truth about dismemberment abortions—that they take the life of an innocent baby by tearing the child limb by limb from a mother’s womb,” Gallagher said. “A statewide poll showed that 61 percent of Pennsylvanians support the ban on the brutal practice of dismemberment abortion. The support is even higher among women—64 percent. We hope that the state legislature will ultimately side with the people and pass this important bill.”

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A state House committee passed the bill last week, but pro-abortion legislators have been trying to block the bill from a full vote in the House. On Monday, abortion activists even brought in some big names – Gov. Tom Wolf and national Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards – for a press conference opposing the bill.

“This legislation would be a step back for women,” Wolf said at the press conference. “This legislation would be a huge step back for Pennsylvania. If this legislation reaches my desk, I will veto it.”

The announcement comes as no surprise from the pro-abortion governor. Wolf has close ties to Planned Parenthood and recently appointed one of its board members as his chief of staff. He also volunteered and donated to the abortion business and received strong support from it during his campaign for governor.

Countering the pro-abortion voices, families with babies born prematurely are speaking up in support of the pro-life bill. The Dreistadt family said their 12-year-old son Will was born weighing a little more than 1 pound. He was so small that his parents’ wedding rings could fit around his arm. Despite a long hospital stay and six surgeries, the western Pennsylvania boy now is thriving.

“In PA, babies at the age of Will’s birth are able to be aborted even though they can survive outside the womb,” his parents Jason and Tammy said. “So many advancements in technology have been made since the writing of current Pennsylvania abortion laws, and even in the 12 years since Will was born! We can now even perform surgeries on unborn children.”

Rapp, the lead sponsor of the bill, pointed out that some unborn babies are being aborted in Pennsylvania while others at the same stage of pregnancy are being saved with new life-saving surgical procedures at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“In the state that’s leading the way for dramatic, life-preserving surgeries for the smallest lives, we’re going to end the inhumane practice of dismemberment abortions, which tears a living human being to pieces,” Rapp said in a new video message about the legislation. “We can do better than that, and Pennsylvania’s women and girls deserve better.”

Gallagher estimated that about 1,550 unborn babies are killed in Pennsylvania every year in inhumane dismemberment abortions.

ACTION: If you are a resident of Pennsylvania, call your state representative and urge him or her to support House Bill 1948. You can find your state representative here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address . Also, contact Gov. Wolf here.

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