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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: July 23, 1998 5:19 pm Contact: NARAL |
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Latest News Releases
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Clinton Veto Of So-Called "Partial-Birth" Ban Overridden In House; Ban Does Not Contain Health Exemption for Women | ||
| WASHINGTON - July 23 - The House today voted to override President
Clinton's veto of the so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban. President Clinton
vetoed the ban last year on the grounds that the bill did not include an exemption to
protect the health of the woman. Today the House overrode that veto on a vote of 296-132.
The Senate is expected to attempt an override vote in the fall. NARAL President Kate Michelman said the House's action amounts to election-year pandering. "Backers of this measure know full well that this law, as it is currently written, is patently unconstitutional. This vote is a blatant attempt to appease their increasingly restless social conservative base during an election year," said Michelman. Twenty-eight states have enacted similar so-called "partial-birth" bans. Of the 20 that have been challenged in court thus far, 18 have been enjoined in whole or in part as unconstitutional. "Proponents of these laws claim they are just trying to ban late-term abortions. But these laws actually have extraordinary scope and make no distinction as to when a so-called "partial-birth" abortion takes place. Nor do they talk about trimesters or fetal viability as required by Roe v. Wade," said Michelman. "So what exactly are they trying to ban? Backers of this measure have answered that question and the answer is all abortions, at any stage of pregnancy." "The sensationalized debate over so-called "partial-birth" abortions overshadows this Congress' atrocious record on reproductive choice. Since abortion opponents took over Congress in 1995, they have voted 94 times to restrict choice, winning all but 13 of those votes," said Michelman. "In recent weeks, we have seen anti-choice members of Congress vote to ban the testing and approval of RU-486, an effective, nonsurgical method of inducing early abortion that has been in use since 1981. We have seen them attempt to block insurance coverage of contraceptives for federal employees. We have even seen them attempt to classify some of the safest and most commonly used forms of birth control as 'abortifacients.' Today's vote highlights the hypocrisy inherent in opposing abortion while simultaneously blocking efforts to make abortion less necessary," added Michelman. ### |
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