NewsAbortion, Politics - U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 18, 2013 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) – The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would restrict all abortions nationwide to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 1797), introduced by Arizona Republica Trent Franks, would end abortion after the point when scientists agree unborn children can feel pain.

In a nearly party-line vote, the measure passed 228-196.

Six Democrats voted yes. Six Republicans voted against the bill. Ten Congressmen did not vote. The full roll call, showing how every Congressman voted, is below.

Democrats who voted yes include: Henry Cuellar of Texas, Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Jim Matheson of Utah, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.

Republicans who voted against the bill include Rep. Paul Broun of Georgia, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, Richard Hanna of New York, Jon Runyan of New Jersey, and Rob Woodall of Georgia.

"Passage of today's landmark bill marks the first time in history, in either chamber of the U.S. Congress, that affirmative protection has been extended to unborn children,” said Franks. “It is my prayer that today also marks a day when America finally opens her eyes to the humanity of these little victims and the inhumanity of what is being done to them."

Leaders in the pro-lifemovement expressed their joy at the bill's passage.

“This vote makes a statement in favor of life even though the Dem[ocrat]-controlled Senate likely won't move on it,” said Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy advisor for Operation Rescue. “Getting this far was a big deal.”

"This pro-woman, pro-science, Constitutional bill deserves an immediate vote in the U.S. Senate," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the SBA List. "It’s simple: children capable of experiencing unimaginable pain from abortion must be protected across the country."

The act's future is uncertain, as it lacks a companion in the Senate, and President Obama has threatened to veto it if the measure ever reaches his desk.

If the bill becomes law, abortionists who perform late-term abortions may face a fine or up to five years in prison.

The legislation would affect the 300 abortionists who perform abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization and an estimated 140 abortion providers who are willing to perform abortions at 24 weeks or later, according to a 2008 report from the Guttmacher Institute.

Some in the pro-life movement were outraged after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia added an amendment allowing abortion in the cases of duly reported rape or incest, a change he made in response to a media feeding frenzy over Franks' remarks about abortion and rape – remarks he says were misinterpreted.

The bill already allowed abortions to save the mother's life.

In response, Georgia Right to Life rescinded its previous support of the bill, saying it had been “hijacked.”

“Sadly, the politics of compromise has decided that one class of children—those conceived by rape or incest—do not deserve protection from the agony of literally being ripped apart,” said GRTL President Dan Becker.

Georgia Congressmen Paul Broun and Rob Woodall were two of the six Republicans to vote nay.

However, most of the nation's pro-life groups strongly supported the incremental measure as an improvement over existing policy. Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said, "Any lawmaker who votes to allow unlimited abortion in the sixth month or later is voting to encourage a continuation of the horrors associated with the likes of Kermit Gosnell."

During debate, Democrats seized upon the fact that Cantor had scheduled Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, to manage today's vote instead of Franks. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, who has strong ties to the Democratic Socialists of America, was among those who drew attention to the fact that there are no Republican women on the House Judiciary Committee that passed the bill last Wednesday.

“Do you think it's fair or proper for a body of men to solely determine one of the most important and private decisions a woman can make in regard to her own health and body?” she asked.

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President Obama issued a statement yesterday saying he“strongly opposes” the bill, which he said presents a “direct challenge to Roe v. Wade and shows contempt for women's health and rights, the role doctors play in their patients' health care decisions, and the Constitution.”

Democrats shared his talking points in the hours prior to the vote.

“The bill is a direct threat to the privacy rights and health of every woman living in this country, and especially women of color,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-CA. She said minority members suffered even more “due to the terrible Hyde Amendment,” which forbids taxpayer funding of abortion.

The full roll call vote is as follows:

---- YEAS 228 ---

Aderholt

Alexander

Amash

Amodei

Bachmann

Bachus

Barletta

Barr

Barton

Benishek

Bentivolio

Bilirakis

Bishop (UT)

Black

Blackburn

Boustany

Brady (TX)

Bridenstine

Brooks (AL)

Brooks (IN)

Buchanan

Bucshon

Burgess

Calvert

Camp

Cantor

Capito

Carter

Cassidy

Chabot

Chaffetz

Coble

Coffman

Cole

Collins (GA)

Collins (NY)

Conaway

Cook

Cotton

Cramer

Crawford

Crenshaw

Cuellar

Culberson

Daines

Davis, Rodney

Denham

DeSantis

DesJarlais

Diaz-Balart

Duffy

Duncan (SC)

Duncan (TN)

Ellmers

Farenthold

Fincher

Fitzpatrick

Fleischmann

Fleming

Flores

Forbes

Fortenberry

Foxx

Franks (AZ)

Gardner

Garrett

Gerlach

Gibbs

Gibson

Gingrey (GA)

Gohmert

Goodlatte

Gosar

Gowdy

Granger

Graves (GA) Graves (MO)

Griffin (AR)

Griffith (VA)

Grimm

Guthrie

Hall

Harper

Harris

Hartzler

Hastings (WA)

Heck (NV)

Hensarling

Herrera Beutler

Holding

Hudson

Huelskamp

Huizenga (MI)

Hultgren

Hurt

Issa

Jenkins

Johnson (OH)

Johnson, Sam

Jones

Jordan

Joyce

Kelly (PA)

King (IA)

King (NY)

Kingston

Kinzinger (IL)

Kline

Labrador

LaMalfa

Lamborn

Lance

Lankford

Latham

Latta

Lipinski

LoBiondo

Long

Lucas

Luetkemeyer

Lummis

Marchant

Marino

Massie

Matheson

McCarthy (CA)

McCaul

McClintock

McHenry

McIntyre

McKeon

McKinley

McMorris Rodgers

Meadows

Meehan

Messer

Mica

Miller (FL)

Miller (MI)

Miller, Gary

Mullin

Mulvaney

Murphy (PA)

Neugebauer

Noem

Nugent

Nunes

Nunnelee

Olson

Palazzo

Paulsen

Pearce Perry

Peterson

Petri

Pittenger

Pitts

Poe (TX)

Pompeo

Posey

Price (GA)

Radel

Rahall

Reed

Reichert

Renacci

Ribble

Rice (SC)

Rigell

Roby

Roe (TN)

Rogers (AL)

Rogers (MI)

Rohrabacher

Rokita

Rooney

Ros-Lehtinen

Roskam

Ross

Rothfus

Royce

Ryan (WI)

Salmon

Sanford

Scalise

Schweikert

Scott, Austin

Sensenbrenner

Sessions

Shimkus

Shuster

Simpson

Smith (MO)

Smith (NE)

Smith (NJ)

Smith (TX)

Southerland

Stewart

Stivers

Stockman

Stutzman

Terry

Thompson (PA)

Thornberry

Tiberi

Tipton

Turner

Upton

Valadao

Wagner

Walberg

Walden

Walorski

Weber (TX)

Webster (FL)

Wenstrup

Westmoreland

Whitfield

Williams

Wilson (SC)

Wittman

Wolf

Womack

Yoder

Yoho

Young (AK)

Young (FL)

Young (IN)

---- NAYS 196 ---

Andrews

Barber

Barrow (GA)

Bass

Beatty

Becerra

Bera (CA)

Bishop (GA)

Bishop (NY)

Blumenauer

Bonamici

Brady (PA)

Braley (IA)

Broun (GA)

Brown (FL)

Brownley (CA)

Bustos

Butterfield

Capps

Capuano

Cárdenas

Carney

Carson (IN)

Cartwright

Castor (FL)

Castro (TX)

Chu

Cicilline

Clarke

Clay

Cleaver

Clyburn

Cohen

Connolly

Conyers

Cooper

Costa

Courtney

Crowley

Cummings

Davis (CA)

Davis, Danny

DeFazio

DeGette

Delaney

DeLauro

DelBene

Dent

Deutch

Dingell

Doggett

Doyle

Duckworth

Edwards

Ellison

Engel

Enyart

Eshoo

Esty

Farr

Fattah

Foster

Frankel (FL)

Frelinghuysen

Fudge

Gabbard Gallego

Garamendi

Garcia

Grayson

Green, Al

Green, Gene

Grijalva

Gutierrez

Hahn

Hanabusa

Hanna

Hastings (FL)

Heck (WA)

Higgins

Himes

Hinojosa

Holt

Honda

Horsford

Hoyer

Huffman

Israel

Jackson Lee

Jeffries

Johnson (GA)

Johnson, E. B.

Kaptur

Keating

Kelly (IL)

Kennedy

Kildee

Kilmer

Kind

Kirkpatrick

Kuster

Langevin

Larson (CT)

Lee (CA)

Levin

Lewis

Loebsack

Lofgren

Lowenthal

Lowey

Lujan Grisham (NM)

Luján, Ben Ray (NM)

Lynch

Maffei

Maloney, Carolyn

Maloney, Sean

Matsui

McCollum

McDermott

McGovern

McNerney

Meeks

Meng

Michaud

Miller, George

Moore

Moran

Murphy (FL)

Nadler

Napolitano

Neal

Negrete McLeod Nolan

O'Rourke

Owens

Pallone

Pastor (AZ)

Payne

Pelosi

Perlmutter

Peters (CA)

Peters (MI)

Pingree (ME)

Pocan

Polis

Price (NC)

Quigley

Rangel

Richmond

Roybal-Allard

Ruiz

Runyan

Ruppersberger

Rush

Ryan (OH)

Sánchez, Linda T.

Sanchez, Loretta

Sarbanes

Schakowsky

Schiff

Schneider

Schrader

Schwartz

Scott (VA)

Scott, David

Serrano

Sewell (AL)

Shea-Porter

Sherman

Sinema

Sires

Slaughter

Smith (WA)

Speier

Swalwell (CA)

Takano

Thompson (CA)

Thompson (MS)

Tierney

Titus

Tonko

Tsongas

Van Hollen

Vargas

Veasey

Vela

Velázquez

Visclosky

Walz

Wasserman Schultz

Waters

Watt

Waxman

Welch

Wilson (FL)

Woodall

---- NOT VOTING 10 ---