EDITORIAL

House diversion

7/1/2013

While Congress is embroiled in action over sweeping immigration reform and the now-sidetracked farm bill, House Republicans chose to spend valuable time elsewhere: Restricting a woman’s right to choose.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which passed in the House recently with just six Democrats voting for and six Republicans voting against it, would outlaw abortion 20 weeks after fertilization in most cases.

The text of the bill cites the scientifically disputed claim that a fetus is capable of feeling pain 20 weeks after fertilization. This claim might be relevant to the legal status of abortion were it not for the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, which ruled that the state has the right to restrict access to abortion only after the fetus reaches viability outside the womb. In most cases, fetal viability begins no earlier than 23 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Worse still, the bill states that exceptions in cases of rape can be made only if the crime is reported to authorities prior to the abortion — never mind that most such cases go unreported.

The Republican-driven bill has little chance of passing in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House has promised a veto in the event that it does. This is good news for the cause of reproductive freedom, but it is all the more perplexing that lawmakers would waste time pushing for a misguided and divisive law.

Most likely, some lawmakers are aiming to appeal to their socially conservative base and build momentum toward a legal challenge to abortion, in line with states that have enacted laws that would ban abortion if Roe were overturned. Reproductive health advocates must remain vigilant against lawmakers who are bent on undercutting women’s right to a safe, legal abortion.