House to Vote on Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act
- Dec 4, 2006 - comment
Control of Congress will switch party hands in January, but the present Congress is still in session and has a key opportunity this week to pass legislation helping unborn children.
The House of Representatives will vote on the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 6099) as early as Tuesday, and the Senate should follow shortly afterward. This bill would require abortion providers to notify a woman who is at least 20 weeks into pregnancy that there is strong evidence unborn children at this stage feel pain during abortion procedures. Abortion providers would also be mandated to offer to provide anesthesia directly to the unborn child for those women who still decide to undergo abortions.
Experts from the field of science and the public at large have demonstrated strong support for laws to inform of pain felt by unborn children during abortions. A federal court received written expert testimony from a pain researcher from the University of Arkansas who said he believes unborn children “possess the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and that pain perceived by a fetus is possibly more intense than that perceived by newborns or older children.” A Zogby poll finds that 77 percent of Americans support “laws requiring that women who are 20 weeks or more along in their pregnancy be given information about fetal pain before having an abortion.”
Doctors routinely offer anesthesia and pain relief medication to those who experience physical agony at all points of life—except life within a woman’s womb. It is unconscionable that federal law prohibits slaughtering livestock or conducting medical research upon animals in such a way that inflicts cruel and unnecessary pain yet does not afford such protections to unborn children.
The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act has not been voted upon in the House or Senate in the 109th Congress, but both chambers, fittingly, could act on the bill during a month in which Christians around the world commemorate life. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, this month, we should be mindful of the unborn who might have their lives taken.
Please contact your congressman and senators today if you agree that a woman seeking an abortion 20 weeks or more into pregnancy should be given basic information about the pain her unborn child would feel during the abortion and that a woman who still decides to undergo the abortion should be offered anesthesia to reduce the baby’s pain in death. Tell them you support the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (S. 51/H.R. 6099) and urge them to vote for the bill.
You can reach your congressman and senators by dialing the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or by clicking here to email them a suggested letter or one entirely your own.
This may be our last best chance to achieve passage of this bill for some time. It is the least we can do for the unborn.
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