Rape-Exception Abortion: Must Provide ‘The Best Opportunity For The Unborn Child to Survive’

By Brittany M. Hughes | May 11, 2015 | 3:49 PM EDT

(CNSNews.com) -- The newly revised Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban almost all abortions at or after the 20th week of pregnancy and which the House will vote on this week, includes a requirement that, when an abortion is done under the bill's rape and incest exceptions, the doctor must do the abortion in a manner that provides "the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive."

Published Monday on the House Rules Committee website, the new bill states in Sec. 3(C): “Notwithstanding the definitions of ‘abortion’ and ‘attempt an abortion’ in this section, a physician terminating or attempting to terminate a pregnancy under an exception provided by subparagraph (B) may do so only in the manner which, in reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.”

The only exception to this requirement, the bill states, is if attempting to save the baby during an abortion would result in “the death of the pregnant woman” or the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant woman.”



The bill also requires that a “physician trained in neonatal resuscitation be present if, in reasonable medical judgment, the pain-capable unborn child has the potential to survive outside the womb.”



“Any health care practitioner present at the time shall humanely exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscious health care practitioner would render to a child born alive at the same gestational age in the course of a natural birth,” the bill states.

The bill also requires that the pregnant woman be given an Informed Consent Authorization Form, including "a statement that the abortion must be performed by the method most likely to allow the child to be born alive unless this would cause significant risk to the mother."

Doctors who perform abortions on pregnant women at 20 weeks or under the rape and incest exceptions must report the abortions to the National Center for Health Statistics within 60 days after the end of that calendar year, including "any incident of live birth resulting from abortion," the bill adds. 

The new bill also makes slight amendments to the rape and incest exceptions for late-term abortions that were included in earlier versions. 

The original bill, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), was shelved mere hours before it was to come before the House for a vote on Jan. 22 due to concerns over its requirement that rape and incest victims seeking an abortion after 20 weeks must have reported the incident to law enforcement prior to the abortion. 



The amended bill restructured this requirement, stating in Sec. 3(B) that the 20-week restriction does not apply if “the pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman, and at least 48 hours prior to the abortion (I) she has obtained counseling for the rape; or (II) she has obtained medial treatment for the rape or an injury related to the rape.”

The required counseling “may not be provided by a facility that performs abortions (unless that facility is a hospital),” the bill states.



In cases of rape or incest of a minor, the new bill states the incident must have been reported either to a law enforcement agency or a “government agency legally authorized to act on reports of child abuse.”



The bill also allows for exceptions to the 20-week ban in cases involving the life of the mother. The legislation defines an "unborn child" as "an individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined in section 8(b) of title 1."

The House will likely vote on the bill as early as Wednesday, May 13, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed to the Weekly Standard on Friday, May 8.



May 13 is also the two-year anniversary of the conviction of famed abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was found guilty of 21 counts of illegal late-term abortion and three counts of first-degree murder for using scissors to sever the spinal cords of three aborted babies born alive at Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphia. Gosnell was sentenced to life without parole on May 14, 2013.



According to the Congressional Budget Office, as many as 10,000 babies 20 weeks and older are aborted each year, averaging out to be about 1.14 late-term abortions per hour, CNSNews.com reported in January.

The House will meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12 to formulate a rule on the proposed bill.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/brittany-m-hughes/rape-exception-abortion-must-provide-best-opportunity-unborn-child