ON the first o November, Congress will hear and discuss a new bill, known as the Heartbeat Bill, that would seek to limit abortions to around a 6-week point…the time when a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
The bringer of the bill, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), is aware that this would effectively ban around 90% of the abortions performed in America. He said:
“Since Roe v. Wade was unconstitutionally decided in 1973, nearly 60 million innocent babies’ lives have been ended by the abortion industry, all with a rubber stamp by the federal government,” King said in January. “If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.”
“We think this bill properly applied does eliminate a large, large share of the abortions—90 percent or better—of the abortions in America.”
The proposed bill is already being criticized by opponents who suggest that most people are not aware that they are pregnant within the first 6 weeks, and this bill would, therefore, block almost all abortions.
NARAL Pro-Choice America Senior Vice President Sasha Bruce said of the bill:
“The GOP’s crazy obsession with banning all abortions in this country knows no end, no boundary, and no common sense,” “Their latest crazy, and clearly unconstitutional, idea is a ban that applies to [people] who don’t even know they’re pregnant yet, intentionally preventing them from accessing care altogether.”
King expects this bill to end up in the Supreme Court. He said:
“By the time we march this thing down to the Supreme Court, the faces on the bench will be different—we just don’t know how much different, but I’m optimistic.”
Congress Could Ban 90% of Abortions
