WASHINGTON, Apr 26, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The US House passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act today in a vote of 252-172. Despite vehement opposition by pro-abortion forces, including Planned Parenthood, NOW and NARAL, 53 Democrats, more than one-fourth of the party’s members in the House, joined Republicans in voting for the bill.
On Wednesday, President George Bush endorsed the bill in a White House statement, which said the President “supports protection for unborn children and therefore supports House passage of H.R. 503. The legislation would make it a separate federal offense to cause death or bodily injury to a child, who is in utero, in the course of committing any one of 68 Federal offenses.” Bush also indicated he was “strongly opposed” to a pro-abortion alternative to the bill which claims there is only one victim when a mother is assaulted and an unborn child is killed or injured. Republicans successfully fought off an amendment to the bill that would have stiffened penalties for assaulting a pregnant woman but not made harming the unborn child a separate crime.
During the debate, pro-abortion Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich noted the significance of the legislation saying, “This would be the first time in the federal legal system that we would begin to recognize a fertilized egg, a zygote, an embryo or a fetus. That’s what the bill is trying to do . . . No sneaking around today, fellas. We’re going to have to put it all on the table.”
For coverage of the debate see: https://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?22577 See AP coverage of the vote at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010426/aponline163637_000.htm