Senate to Vote on Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks

The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act which passed the House with a vote of 237-189 is expected to get a vote in the Senate this month. It is expected that Senate Democrats will filibuster the bill which will require that the bill receive 60 votes in order to be passed by the Senate.

If the bill were to be passed by the Senate, President Trump has said in the past that he would sign such a piece of legislation. The Trump administration has stated that the passage of pro life legislation like the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is a “high priority.”

“Overwhelming majorities of Americans—some 60-64% according to pollsters—support legal protection for pain-capable unborn children,” said pro-life Congressman Chris Smith, according to Lifenews. “Today we know that unborn babies not only die but suffer excruciating pain during dismemberment abortion—a cruelty that rips arms and legs off a helpless child.”

Sixteen states including Ohio, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas currently have similar legislation enacted banning abortion after 20 weeks. Kentucky is the most recent to pass legislation prohibiting abortions after twenty weeks.

The House passed a similar piece of legislation back in 2015, but attempts to get the bill through the Senate were unsuccessful. The House also passed the legislation in 2013.

According to Lifenews:

During the hearing on the last bill, former abortion practitioner Anthony Levatino told members of the committee the gruesome details of his former abortion practice and how he became pro-life following the tragic automobile accident of his child.

Another bombshell dropped during the hearing came from Dr. Maureen Condic, who is Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She testified that the unborn child is capable of reacting to pain as early as 8-10 weeks. This is when most abortions in America take place.

When previous versions of this bill were being debated in Congress, medical experts reinforced the scientific evidence that preborn children younger than 20 weeks really do feel pain and deserve the same protections as a child outside the womb. Physicians have also stated that many preborn children are able to survive between the ages of twenty to twenty-four weeks gestation.

It is more than past time for the United States to recognize and protect the sanctity of human life in all of its stages.