An Update on Partial-Birth Abortion
April 1, 2001 by Bradley Mattes
Remember the Partial-Birth Abortion petition circulated by Life Issues Institute? Tens of thousands of you signed them expressing your outrage over a procedure so hideous, that most Americans wouldn't tolerate it being used on animals. Then why is Partial-Birth Abortion — killing a baby during delivery — allowed to take the lives of thousands of innocent unborn babies every year?
That's a question Congress has been asking in recent years. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban has consistently passed with over a two-thirds majority in the House and just a vote or two shy of two-thirds in the Senate. Even though the ghastly reality of this abortion technique is known, regardless of a solid majority of the public who opposes it, in spite of the fact that it jeopardizes women's health and future fertility — in the face of all this — former President Bill Integrity-R-Us Clinton consistently vetoed the ban. If anyone deserved a pardon, it was America's innocent unborn babies.
A majority of states grew tired of waiting for humanitarian results in Washington, DC and passed their own Partial-Birth Abortion bans. Nebraska's version made it all the way to the US Supreme Court, but tragically, in this case anyway, the highest Court in the land said that it was okay to kill babies during delivery. (You know, there are some shoes I wouldn't want to be in come Judgment Day.)
Dr. Willke and Congressman Steve Chabot (R) with tens of thousands of Partial-Birth Abortion Petition signatures representing pro-lifers throughout the nation.
Where do we stand now? Well, a Cincinnati Congressman, Steve Chabot, is the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution. Congressman Chabot will be responsible for introducing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban in the House. Someone once asked Steve if he was pro-life. He replied, "Are you kidding? My birthday is on January 22nd and Jack and Barbara Willke live in my district. Of course I'm pro-life!" His voting record backs that up.
Pro-life enthusiasm on Capitol Hill, however, has been tempered somewhat with the Supreme Court's decision against the Nebraska ban. As a result of the Court's outrageous action, Congress will have to proceed carefully under the current makeup of the Court to make sure that protecting babies during delivery will remain constitutional while not gutting the bill. Congressman Chabot said, "I'm very hopeful that we can craft a partial birth abortion ban that will survive the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. I'll be working toward that goal in this session of Congress." Steve went on to say, "As Chairman of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over this matter, I intend to do everything possible to get a bill to the President's desk for his signature as soon as possible."
Just in case there was any doubt that Americans are enthusiastically behind Mr. Chabot's efforts, we invited Steve to our office to demonstrate that fact. Dr. Willke and I presented him with the tens of thousands of signatures you all helped us collect. It was an impressive sight that impacted this key elected official.
We thank those of you who signed the Partial-Birth petition. It's especially important to have them right now to impress upon other members of Congress that killing babies during delivery is too important an issue to give up on – even in the shadow of a shameful US Supreme Court decision.
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