House approves ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy
Trump’s endorsement of the bill is a significant advance for antiabortion activists
The House on Tuesday approved a bill banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The move advances a key GOP priority for the third time in the past four years — this time, with President Trump in the White House.
The bill, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, is not expected to emerge from the Senate, where most Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans can block its consideration.
For antiabortion activists though, Trump’s endorsement of the bill is a significant advance for their movement.
The White House said in a statement released Monday that the administration “strongly supports” the legislation “and applauds the House of Representatives for continuing its efforts to secure critical pro-life protections.”
The bill provides for abortions after 20 weeks gestation under the following limitations:
- When they are necessary to save the life of the mother
- In cases of rape or incest
- Abortions performed during that period could be carried out “only in the manner which, in reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive”
- A second physician trained in neonatal resuscitation must be present
“It’s past time for Congress to pass a nationwide law protecting unborn children from the unspeakable cruelty of late-term abortion,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.
Trump first supported a 20-week abortion ban during the final stretch of the presidential campaign when he was working to consolidate conservative support. Antiabortion activists argue the bill is justified by emerging scientific research indicating that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has not endorsed those findings.
The vast majority of abortions are performed earlier in pregnancy, according to federal statistics. Activists have long focused attention on what they call “late term” abortions.
In a letter circulated to antiabortion activists by the Susan B. Anthony List, Trump pledged to sign a 20-week abortion bill into law if he became president, which he said “would end painful late-term abortions nationwide.”
In that letter, Trump also promised to defund Planned Parenthood, nominate justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who are opposed to abortion, make the Hyde Amendment permanent law and “advance the rights of unborn children and their mothers when elected president.”
The House passed the bill 237 to 189. Two Republicans opposed the bill, and three Democrats supported it.
“Let me be clear: This bill is as dead on arrival in the Senate,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee said.
Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, characterized the bill as an attempt “to mollify an agitated base and avoid Donald Trump’s ire at the lack of legislative action under Republican leadership.”
“Women making these difficult decisions need medical professionals, not tone deaf legislation,” she said in a statement.
