U.S. House to Vote July 31 on Bill to Overturn D.C. Policy of Legal Abortion Until Birth

Great news! The U.S. House will vote on Tuesday, July 31 on legislation that would end the current legal policy of allowing abortion, for any reason, until the moment of birth in our nation’s capitol.

The bill, H.R. 3803, is known as the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. In the bill, Congress adopts findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization, if not earlier, the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain and prohibits abortion after that point except when an acute physical condition endangers the life of the mother. Seven states have enacted similar measures and no court actions have prevented those laws from going into effect.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) , our parent organization, was the lead organization promoting H.R. 3803. According to NRLC Legislative Director, Douglas Johnson, “This roll call will be a landmark – the House has never before voted on the question of whether to endorse legal abortion for any reason until birth. Under the Constitution, members of Congress and the President are ultimately accountable for the current abortion-until-birth policy. Any lawmaker who votes against this bill is voting to ratify the extreme policy currently in effect in the nation’s capital, where abortion is perfectly legal for any reason until the moment of birth. If we can achieve a big majority on this groundbreaking initial vote, it will lay the groundwork to achieve legal protection for pain-capable babies in the not-distant future.”

H.R. 3803 currently has 223 House co-sponsors. 218 constitutes a House majority when all members vote. We are happy to inform you that among the co-sponsors of H.R. 3803 are Wisconsin House Members Paul Ryan, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble. Many thanks to these champions of life.

Sue Armacost