Congress Outlaws Abortion Procedures for the First Time Since Roe
President Bush expected to sign bill into law Washington, DC—On Tuesday, October 21st, the U.S. Senate voted to pass a bill that criminalizes certain types of abortion procedures. President Bush has indicated he will sign it and will be the first president in the nation’s history to criminalize safe abortion procedures. The bill has been referred to a ban on “partial-birth” abortion, a terminology not recognized by the medical community. It is not limited to third trimester abortions, as some of its proponents have suggested, but will criminalize certain abortion procedures throughout the pregnancy. The measure does not even have a health exception, one of the key reasons the Supreme Court found a similar Nebraska law unconstitutional in 2000. Tim Stanley, executive director of Minnesota NARAL, called the passage a travesty. Stanley said, “This vote subjugates women's health and access to safe medical care to ideology.” “For the first time since Roe v. Wade, Congress has criminalized certain types of abortion procedures,” said Stanley. “At a time when Americans want their government focused on things like getting the economy going, protecting us from terrorism, fixing our schools and improving health care, the Congressional leadership is instead focused on getting government involved in people’s private medical decisions.” Minnesota NARAL is an affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America and is the largest grassroots pro-choice group in Minnesota. Contact: Tim Stanley - 651-602-7655 For more information, see below or visit www.prochoiceamerica.org. ###
QUICK FACTS REGARDING THE MISLEADINGLY
DUBBED “PARTIAL-BIRTH” ABORTION BANThe bill does NOT ban only one procedure. "Partial-birth" is a political, not a medical, term. The bill's language is deliberately vague, banning safe and common procedures used throughout pregnancy.The bill is NOT a "late-term" abortion ban. It would ban abortions throughout pregnancy. The bill is NOT constitutional. In 2000, the Supreme Court found Nebraska's so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban unconstitutional in Stenberg v. Carhart. This bill contains the same flaws as the Nebraska legislation.These bans are NOT supported by the public. Three states (Washington, Colorado, and Maine) have considered these bans by referendum. Voters in all three states rejected such bans.
These bans are NOT supported by the medical community. Contrary to repeated anti-choice claims, the American Medical Association does NOT support this legislation. Furthermore, respected health organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Women's Association, the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association oppose these bans.There is a great amount of misinformation surrounding so-called "partial-birth" abortion bans. For more information, please review NARAL Pro-Choice America's fact sheet: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/facts/protect.cfm.
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