WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would ban most late-term abortions, preventing women from ending their pregnancies after 20 weeks.
At least 17 states, including Arkansas, have already passed similar laws.
The four House members from Arkansas, all Republicans, voted for H.R. 36 and were among its 182 co-sponsors.
The bill passed 237-189 along party lines. Two Republicans opposed it; three Democrats supported it.
The legislation would make it a crime to perform an abortion on a fetus 20 weeks or older. Exceptions are included in instances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Also known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the measure is supported by the White House, but it lacks enough votes to pass in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 52-48 majority.
One of the bill's earliest backers, U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock, said Tuesday's vote was important.
"As a Catholic and a pro-life member of Congress, I'm pleased to see this bill move forward," he said. "The U.S. is one of only seven countries that allows elective abortions after the 20-week mark ... and some of those award-winning countries include North Korea and China, so I'm pleased that we're doing this and I think it's the right thing to do."
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers said Tuesday's vote reflects his own views and the views of "a clear majority" of his constituents.
"Medical science has concluded that at the 20-week mark, the neurological development of a baby in the womb is sufficient to feel pain," he said. "I think we're on the right side of this issue."
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs noted that he had supported similar legislation when he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
"I think that's very inhumane to perform one of these procedures that takes the life of a 20-week-old baby that feels the pain when it happens. I think abortion's wrong in the first place, but I think this is pretty egregious at 20 weeks of age," he said.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said medical advances since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision have made it possible for preterm babies to survive today, when they would have died decades ago.
"I think the decisions that have been made in the past probably have been made without the advantage of technology to inform your decision," he said. "The technology allows [people] to actually see that those unborn children can feel pain," he added.
A spokesman for Kansas City, Kan.-based Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas, referred questions about the legislation to Planned Parenthood Federation of America in Washington.
In a written statement, Dana Singiser, the national group's vice president for government relations, said the bill's backers are attempting "to shame women and to ban safe, legal abortion."
"It is unbelievable that politicians in Congress are once again attempting to interfere in a woman's ability to make personal decisions about her pregnancy in consultation with her doctor and others she trusts," she said. "If the last few months have shown us anything, it's that Americans want policymakers working to improve health care access and rights for women, not take them away."
Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life, said lawmakers on Capitol Hill are following Arkansas' lead.
"We're very happy that this is finally being passed on the federal level," she said. "For someone to be dismembered while they're fully alive, it has to be tortuous and horrendous and something that a civil society shouldn't condone."
A federal judge tossed out Arkansas' 12-week ban on abortion but its 20-week ban has not been overturned, Mimms said.
Laws banning abortion at 20 weeks have been struck down elsewhere, however.
Metro on 10/04/2017