NARAL withdraws opposition to pain bill

By Tom Strode - Feb 28, 2005 - comment

NARAL Pro-choice America has withdrawn its opposition to the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require that women be informed about the pain their unborn children will experience if they undergo late-term abortions.

“Pro-choice Americans have always believed that women deserve access to all the information relevant to their reproductive health decisions,” NARAL President Nancy Keenan said, according to LifeNews.com. “For some women, that includes information related to fetal anesthesia options. NARAL . . . does not intend to oppose this legislation.”

There are “bigger issues to fight to draw attention to the broader issue of reproductive health,” Keenan said, according to a Feb. 16 article in The New York Times. “We are standing strong in the next Supreme Court battle.”

The legislation, which is S. 51 in the Senate and H.R. 356 in the House of Representatives, is one of the primary measures supported this year by the ERLC and other pro-life organizations.

The bill has two provisions: (1) An abortion doctor would have to provide a woman at least 20 weeks pregnant with scientific evidence about the severe pain her unborn child would experience during the procedure, and (2) if the woman still decides to have an abortion, the doctor would be required to offer anesthesia for her unborn baby in order to reduce his pain.

While NARAL is no longer fighting the legislation, other abortion rights organizations have not changed their positions. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and National Abortion Federation continue to oppose it, LifeNews reported.

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