U.S.
House to vote Tuesday, July 31 to curb policy of legal
abortion until birth in the nation's capital!
Dear Pro-life Friends,
WASHINGTON (July 27, 2012). We are making
progress -- but we have to fight every step of the way!
As I told you in an Action Alert eight
days ago, the pro-abortion forces have been working
furiously to block a major bill, originated by National
Right to Life, from coming to the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives. Since then, your voices have been heard! On
Tuesday, July 31, the U.S. House of Representatives will
vote on legislation that would end the current legal policy
in our nation’s capital of allowing abortion, for any
reason, until the moment of birth!
The legislation is the District of
Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R.
3803).
The Council of the District of Columbia,
employing authority delegated by Congress, repealed the
entire D.C. abortion law. Thus, in the nation’s capital,
abortion is currently legal for any reason through all nine
months of pregnancy. An abortion facility not far from the
White House now advertises dismemberment ("D&E") abortions
on request, to 26 weeks of pregnancy -- the beginning of the
7th month! There is nothing to stop abortionists from
performing abortions even closer to birth -- for a price.
H.R. 3803, sponsored by Congressman Trent
Franks (R-Az.), was approved by the House Judiciary
Committee just last week, and is being brought to the House
floor on a fast-track procedure. In the bill, Congress
adopts findings that by 20 weeks after fertilization (if not
earlier), the unborn child has the capacity to experience
great pain. The bill then prohibits abortion in the federal
District after that point (the beginning of the sixth
month), except when an acute physical condition endangers
the life of the mother.
Now, every member of the U.S. House of
Representatives will have to go on record on whether
abortion should be legal for any reason to the moment of
birth.
"This is a historic vote -- the U.S. House
of Representatives has never before voted on a bill to
prohibit the abortion of pain-capable unborn children, and
has never before voted on whether to endorse a policy of
legal abortion for any reason until the moment of birth,"
Douglas Johnson, National Right to Life's veteran
legislative director, told me today. "Under the
Constitution, members of Congress and the president are
ultimately accountable for the current abortion-until-birth
policy in the District. Any lawmaker who votes against this
bill is voting to ratify the current District policy of
allowing abortion for any reason for all nine months of
pregnancy."
Mr. Johnson also said, "If we can achieve
a big majority on this groundbreaking initial vote, it will
set the foundation to win legal protection for pain-capable
unborn children in the not-distant future."
TAKE ACTION NOW!
As you would expect, pro-abortion groups
are moving aggressively to oppose the bill -- a bill that
pro-abortion Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said “has
the potential to eviscerate the entire Roe framework,”
referring to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that
legalized abortion nationwide.
Now, I am asking you to contact your
representative in the U.S. House to urge that he or she be
sure to be present in Washington on July 31, and to vote in
favor of H.R. 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable
Unborn Child Protection Act, often referred to as the "D.C.
late abortion ban" for short. Please contact your
representative's office even if you have already contacted
them in the past on behalf of this legislation.
Here are three specific things that you
can do, in minutes, to help us take another step towards
ending the horrendous abortion situation in our country's
capital:
1. Telephone the office of your
representative in the U.S. House -- urge him or her to be
sure to be present when the vote is taken on July 31, and to
vote in favor of H.R. 3803. For your guidance, click on
this link, which will take you straight to an NRLC Call
Alert. Enter your zip code, and you will see the name of
your representative, the proper number to call, and short
"talking points" to make about the bill to the
representative's staff person. It is easy to do, takes just
a few minutes, and will have a real impact. If you want, you
can take an additional minute to use a short form to send
NRLC a brief email report about what your representative's
staff person had to say. If the link doesn't work for you,
just use your web browser to go to
http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/home/
2. Forward this alert to like-minded
friends and family members. Tell them that in Washington,
D.C., their nation's capital, abortion is currently
perfectly legal for any reason until the moment of birth --
and babies are being brutally dismembered far past the point
that they are capable of experiencing excruciating pain.
Congress and the president need to stop this brutality by
enacting the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child
Protection Act, H.R. 3803, which would ban abortion after 20
weeks fetal age, unless the mother's life is in danger. For
much more information on this issue, click
here.
3. Use the "Donate Now" button below to
support NRLC's intense efforts on behalf of this
legislation, which have been highlighted in recent media
reports. NRLC is being badly outspent by well-funded
pro-abortion advocacy organizations. To counter their
efforts, we need the support of pro-life Americans like you.
Again -- we are making progress, but we
must overcome stiff resistance every step of the way. Please
help us, and please urge others to do the same.
Thank you!
Yours for life,
Carol Tobias
National Right to Life President
