May 7, 2001

Abortion legislation praised
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--A House decision to approve legislation making a federal crime of killing or harming an unborn child during an assault on a pregnant woman has been greeted with applause from opponents of legal abortion.
___Passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act--approved in a 252-172 vote--sent a powerful message that "when a violent assault is committed against a pregnant woman and her baby, under federal law judgment and punishment will be meted out for violent acts against two victims, not one," said Cathleen Cleaver of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
___Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, said the legislation "underscores the reality that many Americans do want to see the unborn child protected from acts of violence."
___But critics said the legislation is an attempt to dismantle the Supreme Court decision that legalized most abortions.
___"Everyone in this chamber understands what is going on here today," said Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y. "The majority did not bring this bill to the floor to protect pregnant women. The majority brought this measure to the floor today to launch its battle to end a woman's right to choose."
___Meanwhile, supporters of legal abortion scored a victory the same day as federal judges struck down bans on late-term abortions in three states.
___Michigan's Infant Protection Act of 1999 was blocked by summary judgment from U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow, while the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago blocked similar laws in Illinois and Wisconsin, which subjected doctors who performed late-term abortions to life imprisonment.
___The appellate court found the laws--which did include exceptions for situations that posed a danger to mother's health--did not "differ in any material way" from the Nebraska law the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last June.
___That statute imposed an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions, the Supreme Court said in their 5-4 ruling.

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