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IB95095
including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy
itself. The bill defined the term "partial-birth abortion" to mean an abortion in which "the
person performing the abortion deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus
until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the
mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is
outside the body of the mother for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person
knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus." Physicians who violated the act would
have been subject to a fine, imprisonment for not more than two years, or both. H.R. 4965
was not considered by the Senate.
During the 108th Congress, on November 5, 2003, S. 3, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Act of 2003, was signed by the President. The House approved H.Rept. 108-288, the
conference report for the measure, on October 2, 2003, by a vote of 281-142. The Senate
agreed to the conference report on October 21, 2003, by a vote of 64-34. Although the Court
has held that restrictions on abortion must allow for the performance of an abortion when it
is necessary to protect the health of the mother, the act does not include such an exception.
Senator Rick Santorum, the bill's original sponsor, maintained that a health exception is not
necessary because of the risks associated with partial-birth abortions.
Legislative History
Rather than settle the issue, the Court's decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton
have prompted debate and precipitated a variety of governmental actions at the national, state
and local levels to limit their effect. As the previous Congresses have been, the 108th
Congress continued to be a forum for proposed legislation and constitutional amendments
aimed at limiting or prohibiting the practice of abortion. Further activity is expected in the
109th Congress. This section examines the history of the federal legislative response to the
abortion issue.
In the decade prior to the decision in Roe v. Wade, ten pieces of legislation relating to
abortion were introduced in either the House or the Senate. Since 1973, more than 1,000
separate legislative proposals have been introduced. The wide disparity in these statistics
illustrates the impetus that the Court's 1973 decisions gave to congressional action. By far
the greater number of these proposals have sought to restrict the availability of abortions.
A few measures have been introduced seeking to better secure the right. The Freedom of
Choice Act (FOCA), which was introduced and debated in both the 102nd and 103rd
Congresses, was never enacted. FOCA was an attempt to codify Roe v. Wade legislatively.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994, P.L. 103-259 (18 U.S.C. 248),
made it a federal crime to use force, or the threat of force, to intimidate abortion clinic
workers or women seeking abortions.
Proponents of more restrictive abortion legislation have employed a variety of
legislative initiatives to achieve this end, with varying degrees of success. Initially,
legislators focused their efforts on the passage of a constitutional amendment which would
overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Roe. This course, however, proved to be
problematic.CRS-7
04-05-05
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Lewis, Karen J.; Shimabukuro, Jon O. & Ely, Dana. Abortion: Legislative Response, report, April 5, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820435/m1/10/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.