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June 13, 2013

House Panel Advances 20-Week Abortion Ban; Sponsor Says Pregnancies From Rape "Very Low" 
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The House Judiciary Committee has advanced a measure that would ban
abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy, which anti-choice activists believe
marks the point at which a fetus can feel pain. The measure now goes to
the House floor. It has no chance of passing the Senate, and federal
appeals courts have recently struck down similar measures in Idaho and
Arizona, although other bans remain in place in several states. The
bill's sponsor, Republican Congressmember Trent Franks of Arizona,
sparked controversy on Tuesday when he claimed the rate of pregnancies
resulting from rape is "very low."

Rep. Trent Franks: "Before, when my friends on the left side of the
aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject — because, you
know, the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low."

Franks' comments are being widely compared to those of former Republican
Senator Todd Akin, who lost his re-election bid last year after claiming
that women can suppress pregnancy in instances of what he called
"legitimate rape."

 

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