[Vision2020] Fetal Pain Bill Fails in House

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (December 7, 2006) Spokesman Review -

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Fetal pain bill fails in House
Social conservatives dealt another setback

Noam N. Levey 
Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2006

WASHINGTON - House Republicans opposed to abortion rights failed Wednesday
in their bid to pass a controversial measure that would have required women
seeking abortions to be informed that some fetuses feel pain.

Although it was clear the bill would have stalled in the Senate, the
abortion opponents hoped the House vote would provide a symbolic victory
before control of Capitol Hill passes to Democrats in January. Instead, the
vote dealt social conservatives a final setback in a two-year congressional
session that has not produced a major piece of anti-abortion legislation.

 
The bill received majority support, 250-162. But that fell short of the
two-thirds margin required under rules that limited debate.

Those decrying the outcome included Concerned Women for America, an advocacy
group for socially conservative causes.

"Abortion not only kills a baby, it tortures them," said Wendy Wright, the
group's president. "Regrettably, congressmen - many who denounced the use of
torture against suspected terrorists - have voted to not let women know that
abortion will torture their innocent unborn babies."

Abortion rights supporters applauded the bill's failure as they prepared for
the arrival of a Democratic Congress in which such measures almost assuredly
will never see the light of day.

"This sham bill is yet another partisan political ploy that misguidedly
attempts to insert the government into private medical conversations between
women and their doctors," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., who helped lead
opposition to the legislation.

The opponents also disputed the claim by the bill's backers that fetuses 20
weeks old or more experience pain.

The bill has not been a top priority for anti-abortion activists. Their
movement suffered a tougher loss earlier in the fall when a measure to
strengthen parental consent laws was derailed in the Senate after passing
the House.

The fetal pain bill was sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

"It's about time that women were told the truth about abortion," he said
during floor debate.

Smith and others argued that because some evidence has been found that older
fetuses feel pain, women seeking to terminate a pregnancy should be informed
of that by abortion providers.

The bill would have required that the women be offered the choice of having
anesthesia administered to the fetus.

Smith also said, "Is it our hope that this (bill) may dissuade a woman from
allowing her child to be killed? Absolutely."

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How They Voted:

The House voted 250-162 for a bill that would require abortion providers to
inform a woman 20 weeks into her pregnancy that an abortion would cause pain
to the fetus. The vote was short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass
under a procedure that limited debate. A yes vote is a vote in favor of the
measure.

House
Washington: McMorris (R) yes.

Idaho: Otter (R) did not vote.

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Question:  Where was Idaho's Representative (Governor-elect) "Butch" Otter?

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"*Why* a person does what he does is at least as important as the objective
behavior."

- Princess Sushitushi (September 10, 2006)

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