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Posted on 10/03/2002 5:45:49 PM PDT by Got a right to Life? . . Huh?
Press Conference Focuses on Senate's Refusal to Consider PBA Ban
Washington, DC -- Pro-life senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Wayne Allard (R-CO) along with pro-life member of Congress Melissa hart (R-PA) and a host of pro-life groups held a press conference Wednesday morning to challenge Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to bring up the ban on partial-birth abortion (H.R. 4965).
The House of Representatives passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in July. The Senate has not considered the bill, in large part because of the reluctance of Daschle to bring up the bill for debate or to encourage a hearing for the bill in a Senate committee.
The bill is similar to the ban that was held hostage by President Clinton who vetoed it twice, despite the fact that it passed with significant majorities in both houses. President Bush has indicated he would sign the bill if it passed in the Senate.
Sen. Daschle has voted to support a ban on no fewer than three occasions, he now refuses to take the matter up in the Senate, explains Family Research Council President Ken Connor.
"There can only be two explanations for Mr. Daschle's inaction," Connor said. "Either he has changed his mind and now supports this grisly and brutal practice -- which all but the most extreme abortion proponents find abhorrent -- or his earlier 'opposition' was mere 'eyewash' and he cynically voted to oppose the procedure knowing that Mr. Clinton would veto the bill and others would be credited with doing the dirty-work. If the latter is the case, Mr. Daschle's willingness to embrace brutality is exceeded only by his cynicism and duplicity toward the American people."
Since the bill was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2000, it has been rewritten to include a series of findings from Congressional hearings that demonstrate that the procedure is never medically necessary to preserve the health of a woman, and in fact, could be extremely hazardous to her health.
"Partial-Birth Abortion is a gruesome procedure that threatens the dignity of human life," said Sandy Rios, president of Concerned Women for America. "The American people have responded instinctively to this atrocity; we are repulsed by these barbaric measures."
"The vast majority of Americans are appalled by partial-birth abortion," explained Cathy Cleaver, a spokesperson for the U.S. Catholic Bishops.
"It is barbaric in its treatment of unborn children, and poses numerous health risks to women. It has been rejected by the American Medical Association and condemned by doctors nationwide," Cleaver noted. "Recognizing the almost universal abhorrence of this gruesome procedure, Congress has twice before banned it. Congress should again do so, and send the bill to President Bush, who has vowed to sign it."
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