On March 13, the Senate approved, 64-33, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban (S. 3). Sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), S. 3 would prohibit a specific abortion procedure performed during the second and third trimesters. The bill would make an exception if the life of the pregnant woman is endangered by carrying the pregnancy to term. Physicians who violate the ban would be subject to two years’ imprisonment and/or fines. S. 3 also contains a number of congressional findings that state “partial-birth abortion is never necessary to preserve the health of a woman, poses serious risks to a woman’s health, and lies outside the standard of medical care.”
Congress considered similar bans during the 104th, 105th, and 106th Congresses. Twice the bans were vetoed by President Clinton. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska law that would have banned “partial-birth abortions” because the law did not include a health exception and because the bill placed an undue burden on a woman’s right to choose due to a broadly worded definition. Last year, the House approved a ban; however, the Senate did not consider the measure (see The Source, 7/26/02).
A highly contentious issue, the Senate spent three days debating the measure. Arguing in support of S. 3, Sen. Santorum noted that “we have dealt with the constitutional issues. Now we are back to the focus of this legislation.” He said that to describe the procedure “sends chills down your back,” and added, “I do not know who is protected in this situation when every credible medical core organization says it is not medically necessary; in fact, it is ‘bad medicine,’ and it is harmful to women.”
Addressing the issue of whether the bill should include a health exception, Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) argued that “it is a dangerous option.” He also stated that according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are “‘no credible studies’ on ‘partial-birth abortion’ that ‘evaluate or attest to its safety’ for the mother.”
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) spoke in opposition to the bill, saying S. 3 “does not hold the rights of women paramount–instead it infringes on those rights in the most grievous of circumstances.” She added that the measure “undermines basic tenets of Roe v. Wade.”
In expressing her opposition to the bill, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) noted that there is “no mention of the term ‘partial-birth abortion’ in any medical literature. Physicians are never taught a technique called ‘partial-birth abortion’ and, therefore, are unable to medically define the procedure.” She continued by quoting the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, saying that the “the intervention of legislative bodies into medical decision-making is inappropriate, ill-advised and dangerous.”
During the debate, the Senate approved, 52-46, an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that expresses the sense of the Senate that the decision of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade was appropriate and secures an important constitutional right. The amendment also says that the ruling should not be overturned.
The Senate rejected several amendments during the debate, including an amendment offered by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) that included a number of stand-alone bills introduced during the 107th Congress. The amendment would have required health plans to cover all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive drugs and services. Sen. Murray’s amendment would have authorized emergency contraception education and information programs and would have allowed survivors of sexual assault to receive emergency contraceptives without charge. Additionally, the amendment would have provided expanded Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for pregnant women and infants.
Sen. Murray said that her amendment would “reduce the number of abortions in America and ensure that low-income, pregnant women have access to health care that will reduce complications in their pregnancies and ensure healthy outcomes.”
Sen. Santorum raised a point of order against the amendment because it would have increased mandatory spending. The amendment failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to overcome a point of order and was defeated, 49-47.
A substitute amendment, offered by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), was tabled by a vote of 60-38. The amendment would have prohibited the abortion of a viable fetus unless two physicians certify that “the continuation of the pregnancy would threaten the mother’s life or risk grievous injury to her physical health.” Under the amendment, violators would be subject to medical license suspension or revocation, as well as civil penalties.
Additionally, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) offered a substitute amendment that was defeated, 35-60. Her amendment would have made it unlawful to “perform an abortion if, in the medical judgment of the attending physician, the fetus is viable.” The amendment would have created an exception for the life and health of the woman and would have imposed civil penalties of up to $100,000.
Sen. Boxer also offered a motion to recommit the bill to the Judiciary Committee; however, the motion failed, 42-56.
