Ban on Abortion After 20 Weeks Passes House

A bill outlawing most abortions after 20 weeks cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday, mostly along party lines, in the third time that House Republicans have passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, CNN reports. While the bill is expected to founder in the Senate, as it did on previous attempts in 2013 and 2015, this time it the has backing of President Trump. A White House statement says the administration "strongly supports" the measure "to secure critical pro-life protections." The bill would criminalize abortions after 20 weeks except in cases of rape or incest, or to save the mother's life. Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, circulated a September 2016 letter in which then-candidate Trump promised to support the bill, per the Washington Post.

"It's past time … to pass a nationwide law protecting unborn children from the unspeakable cruelty of late-term abortion," Dannenfelser says. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham pledged to introduce companion legislation in the Senate, but the chances of Republicans garnering the 60 votes needed to pass it are low, the Hill reports. Asked about the bill, GOP Whip Sen. John Cornyn said, per CNN, "That's not a near-term priority." Several states have already passed similar measures, which opponents called unconstitutional. "This dangerous, out-of-touch legislation is nothing more than yet another attempt to restrict women's access to safe, legal abortion," Planned Parenthood said. (One of the bill's backers urged his mistress to get an abortion, texts show.)