Episode 198: Pass The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is supported by 74% of Americans, and 77% of women. Then why did it pass on a party-line vote in the House of Representatives, and why does it face a filibuster in the Senate?

Because, if it could save just one life (or, in this case, 10,000), who could be against it? The answer, of course, isn’t moral or ethical; it’s political.

Mentioned links:

Call or write your Senator

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List of mayors of Las Vegas [Wikipedia]

Republicans Introduce 20-Week Abortion Ban in the Senate

H.R.36 – Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, 115th Congress (2017-2018)

Show transcript

The US House of Representatives recently passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in a near party-line vote of 237-189. This act would ban abortions after 20 weeks except in the cases of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother. This has passed before, but it was mostly symbolic, since with Obama in the White House, it would never get signed. However, now that Trump is in there, and has stated he would sign it if it made it to his desk, only the Senate is standing in the way.

As the bill’s name notes, a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. Premature children born at 20 weeks can laugh, cry and feel pain. You wouldn’t consider dismembering a child like that, but someone being out of sight is indeed out of mind, at least for some people.

Some might say that only 2 percent of abortions in this country occur after 20 weeks, so this is not going to make much of a difference. Well, 2 things. One, then passing this shouldn’t be a big deal, should it? And two, do you know how many children that is? The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 10,000 children will be spared by this legislation. Democrats have often been heard to use the phrase, “if it will save just one life, it’ll be worth it”, when describing their latest bit of governmental paternalism. Yeah, well, if they’re not interested in saving 10,000, how can we believe them about the 1?

But do the American people really want this to pass? Well, I’m glad you asked. In a Marist poll back in January, they asked about views on abortion. Turns out that 74% of people nationwide support limiting abortion to – at most – the first trimester. Some, of course, would like to make that time period shorter, but almost three-quarters would be good with a restriction of no abortions after 3 months. “But wait”, you may be saying, “what about asking only women what they think?” Well, they did, and 77% of women agreed, 3 points higher than the national average. And most interesting to me was that over half of those who labeled themselves “pro-choice” also agreed with that limitation!

“But wait”, you may be saying, “do these people think it’s that much of a priority for the government?” Turns out that 59% of the general population think it’s an important or even immediate priority. And if you ask just the women, that number is bumped up to 61%.

The Women’s March that took place in the early days of the Trump administration was meant to show how women were u...