Wednesday, May 13, 2015

House Passes (Again) Rep. Franks' Bill Banning 20-Week+ Abortions

UPDATE, 2:59pm:  Republicans voting against: Dent, Dold, Frelinghuysen, Hanna
Republican voting "Present": Hice (Jody)
Republican not voting: Barletta
Democrats voting in favor: Cuellar, Langevin, Lipinski, Peterson
Democrats not voting: Boyle (Brendan), Brady, Capps, Hinojosa
 roll call

The U.S. House of Representatives (again) passed Arizona Rep. Trent Franks' (R-CD8) bill that would ban any abortions after the 20th week of preganancy.  The vote was 242-184.  Four Republicans voted against the bill, and four Democrats voted in favor; otherwise, it was a partyline vote.

Franks and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" - H.R. 36 - in January; that has become an almost-annual exercise around the time of the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade.

In 2013, the bill passed the House on a party line 228-196 vote.  It died in the Senate, which was then controlled by the Democrats.  The Republicans now hold the majority in both houses of Congress.  However, the bill will face a certain veto from President Obama.

The Democrats attempted to amend the bill to permit an abortion after 20 weeks if it was necessary to protect the health of the mother. The bill permits exceptions to protect the life of the mother, or in the case of rape or incest.  The amendment attempt failed on a party line vote.

Franks spoke for about 5 minutes during the main debate:

Franks speaking earlier today, during debate over rules: 


Introduced: http://bit.ly/AZp1080
2013 passed: http://bit.ly/AZp558
Text: http://1.usa.gov/1cxLtpv


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