The House hasn’t returned to a bill banning abortion midway through pregnancy, three months after disputes over its specifics halted an effort to pass it.
Anti-abortion leaders urged GOP leadership this week to schedule a vote on the so-called “pain-capable” measure, which prohibits most abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the idea that’s when a fetus can start feeling pain.
“The Senate stands ready to take up this legislation,” they said in a statement. “A vote on this popular, modest bill will serve as a benchmark as to whether the House GOP is serious about protecting unborn babies and women.”
The statement was released by Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, along with the leaders of the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, March for Life, Americans United for Life and a few other groups.
The activists were frustrated in January when the measure was suddenly derailed over some objections by female Republicans that it would require women to report a rape before they could access an abortion. The measure would allow abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy only in cases of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at stake.
About a dozen states have already passed similar laws banning abortions past the middle of pregnancy. While President Obama has said he would veto a federal 20-week ban, activists hope to keep the issue in the national spotlight if Congress passes it.
Abortion opponents view the measure as a moderate restriction on abortion, as a majority of Americans support it and only about 1 percent of abortions are performed past 20 weeks of pregnancy anyway.
