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.