NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue announced that they are unsure if they can stop a new effort to protect pre-born children.
What has NARAL panicked is the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – legislation that would ban abortions after twenty weeks. Part of the impetus comes from Dr. Kawaljeet Anand’s research at the University of Tennessee, as his work suggests that a fetus can suffer pain by week twenty. This is especially relevant in light of what a second-trimester abortion typically involves: pulling the fetus apart one piece at a time.
While some contest the findings, University of Utah neurobiologist Maureen Condic argues that “there is sufficient uncertainty to warrant giving the fetus the benefit of the doubt.”
Ms. Hogue doesn’t agree, sending out an e-mail to complain how “the 20-week abortion ban has already passed the House of Representatives, and with only 37 pro-choice votes left in the U.S. Senate, there’s no guarantee we can stop it there.”
Although Hogue calls the proposal “extreme,” polling data says otherwise. According to a 2013 survey conducted by Quinnipiac, sixty percent of women support the move. And while advocates often claim that late-term abortions are only done for reasons of medical necessity, that’s simply not true. Earlier this year, a couple tried to crowdfund a late-term abortion so the mother could continue to “smoke cigarettes” and “drink Rockstar.” You can also find misogynistic men on the website Rsdnation.com asking how to pressure a woman to abort when she’s nearly twenty weeks along.
Gloria Steinem, behold thy legacy.
Pro-lifers played an important role in last month’s election, and we need to make it clear we expect results. You can express that message by contacting your senator and identifying the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act as something you’d like to see pass.
Ilyse Hogue concluded her e-mail by stating, “This will be the fight of our lives–and we need to get ready.” Pro-lifers should have the same mindset.
