House Passes H.R. 1797: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

Tonight the House passed the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 1797) by a vote of 228-196. The vote breakdown was as follows:

Votes in Favor: 6 Democrats (Cuellar, Lipinski, Matheson, McIntyre, Peterson and Rahall) and 222 Republicans

Votes Against: 190 Democrats and 6 Republicans voted NO(Broun, Dent, Frelinghuysen, Hanna, Runyan and Woodall)

Congressional Testimony - H.R. 1797: Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

"Chairman Franks and distinguished members of the subcommittee, my name is Anthony Levatino. I am a board-certified obstetrician gynecologist. I received my medical degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, NY in 1976 and completed my OB-GYN residency training at Albany Medical Center in 1980. In my 33-year career, I have been privileged to practice obstetrics and gynecology in both private and university settings. From June 1993 until September 2000, I was associate professor of OB-GYN at the Albany Medical College serving at different times as both medical student director and residency program director. I have also dedicated many years to private practice and currently operate a solo gynecology practice in Las Cruces, NM. I appreciate your kind invitation to address issues related to the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 1797)."

Note: The limit of this legislation to just the District of Columbia was eliminated. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would apply nationwide just as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act applies nationwide and was upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional in Gonzales v. Carhart.

House Constitution Subcommittee Passes Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 1797)

Today the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice approved the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 1797) by a party line vote of 6-4.

H.R. 1797, as originally introduced would have only applied to the District of Columbia.

During the mark-up today, bill author and Subcommittee Chairman Trent Franks (R-AZ) offered a Manager's Amendment, to expand the bill to apply nationwide. The Franks Manager’s Amendment passed by a vote of 6-4.

With this change, the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” will be a national prohibition on aborting pain-capable unborn children after twenty weeks gestation (post-fertilization age).

The IRS and the Coalition for Life of Iowa

Today the House Ways and Means Committee held a “Hearing with Organizations Targeted by Internal Revenue Service for Their Personal Beliefs.”

One of the witnesses was Ms. Sue Martinek, President of the Coalition for Life of Iowa (CFLI) who explained that CFLI “is a grass-roots, low-budget public charity founded in 2004, to provide prayer, education, and related activities about the sanctity of life from conception to death. Throughout our history, we have organized and sponsored educational forums and engaged in peaceful prayer activities.”

Statements from Martinek’s testimony: