(Cincinnati, OH) Feb 13, 2003 – In a press conference held today, Thursday, February 13, 2003, Congressman Steve Chabot – Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution – announced the introduction in the House of bipartisan legislation to enact a ban on partial birth abortions. Also in attendance were House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner and other members of Congress.
In addition to a precise definition of the procedure, the legislation contained factual findings – which included evidence received during extensive hearings – which indicate that a partial birth abortion is never medically necessary to preserve the health of a woman – but that it does pose a serious risk to a woman’s health and lies outside the standard of medical care.
John C. Willke, MD, president of Life Issues Institute, said, “We are very pleased that Congressman Chabot has reintroduced this bill. When talking about the partial birth abortion procedure, we must remember: it’s a very specific type of abortion done after viability. 80% of the babies killed have been normal. It is not needed to save the mother’s life, or her physical health, and, from testimony of the abortionists themselves, we know that most of these abortions are purely elective.”
The legislation introduced today is virtually identical to the legislation Chabot authored in the last Congress. Although that legislation passed the House with a strong bipartisan vote of 274-151, it was completely blocked by pro-abortion, Democrat leadership in the Senate.
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