House Democrats advance bill which would drastically expand abortions

by ian

Ian Patrick, FISM News

 

Earlier this month, Texas took a stand against abortion by enacting a law known as the Texas Heartbeat Law which bans abortions in the state after a heartbeat can be heard. In a desperate attempt to combat the pro-life push, Democrats in the House of Representatives advanced a bill on Tuesday that would expand abortions beyond what is provided in Roe v. Wade.

Known as the “Women’s Health Protection Act,” the bill aims to maintain the “right” for women to abort infants as given in Roe, while also removing certain restrictions and limitations in the process.

The bill would allow abortion providers the ability to abort without providing certain tests and procedures and without giving certain medical advice before and after the act. Providers would also be allowed to prescribe medications and provide telemedicine services for abortions, up to the limitations given to other medical professionals. The bill also says that the abortion provider does not need to have people credible to provide the procedure, nor have access to certain medical care when compared to “facilities or the personnel of facilities where medically comparable procedures are performed.”

…concerning the physical plant, equipment, staffing, or hospital transfer arrangements of facilities where abortion services are provided, or the credentials or hospital privileges or status of personnel at such facilities, that is not imposed on facilities or the personnel of facilities where medically comparable procedures are performed.

Under this bill, patients would also be able to willfully get abortions with few hindrances in the way. The bill says that patients don’t need to make appointments before their abortion, and aren’t even required to give a reason for wanting the procedure done.

The bill also removes “a prohibition on abortion at any point or points in time prior to fetal viability,” as well as any limitations on post-viable abortions and delayed abortions if “continued pregnancy” poses risks to the mother’s health. In step with progressive agendas, the bill also says that it “is intended to protect all people with the capacity for pregnancy—cisgender women, transgender men, non-binary individuals, those who identify with a different gender, and others—who are unjustly harmed by restrictions on abortion services.”

The bill currently sits in the full House waiting to be debated. It is likely to pass through the Democrat-controlled Chamber, but it will unlikely pass through an evenly split Senate. Although abortion is an issue typically supported by Democrats and especially progressives, Republicans have lambasted this recent attempt to push infanticide.

Representative Tom Cole, the senior House Rules panel Republican, said “It’s the fiercest assault on the unborn since Roe was decided.”

DONATE NOW