Senate Passes Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Guide Extra: 10/21/99
The US Senate today passed by a vote of 63 - 34, S. 1692, The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1999. The vote was 4 votes short of the number needed to override an anticipated veto by President Clinton. Fourteen Democrats joined 49 Republicans in backing the ban. Three Republicans joined 31 Democrats in opposing it.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Rick Santorum (R. PA), imposes fines and/or possible prison terms of up to two years against any physician or non-physician who "... knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus..."
A "partial-birth abortion" is defined by the bill as "...an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery."
The bill would not apply to partial-birth abortions performed out of medical necessity to save the life of the mother.
Read the complete text of S. 1692
Other Major Abortion / Right to Life Legislation
Pro-Choice Views - from an expert About.com Guide
Pro-Life Views - from an expert About.com Guide
