Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act S. 51 / H.R. 356

Introduced January 26, 2005, these companion bills target the unborn child’s pain during abortion.

Both bills require women considering abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy to sign a form accepting or rejecting a pain-reducing drug for the baby.

S.51, introduced by Senator Sam Brownback, an M.D., had 34 co-sponsors on 2/2/05; H.R. 356, introduced by Representative Chris Smith had 82 co-sponsors.  Neither bill has any New York co-sponsors.

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America said:  “This legislation applies the current scientific information to this issue by requiring abortionists to provide medically accurate information that, without a law, they simply refuse to give to women.”  Dr. James Dobson added:  “Medical research now confirms what we’ve suspected for some time: the baby in the womb can feel the pain of abortion.”

These bills would not only enable pain reduction for children during abortion, but also educate the public and provoke some women to rethink choosing abortion. 

“There are numerous laws to prevent cruelty to domestic and wild animals, but no laws to prevent well-developed unborn children from suffering excruciating pain as they are torn limb from limb during abortions,” said Douglas Johnson,  NRTLC Executive Director.  Also pledging full support of the bills:  Family Research Council, Christian Medical Association, Southern Baptist Convention (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “

“There is a great deal of debate in the medical community about this issue and what is contained in this bill is based on speculation and inference,” according to Bobbie Kierstead: Planned Parenthood of Nebraska.

She is correct in that this topic is still the topic of ongoing research and is not yet fully understood.  However, the experts do agree that perception of pain is not something that waits until after birth for development.

During the partial-birth abortion trials, fetal pain was an issue.  Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, an expert on pain unborn children experience during pregnancy, said medical studies conclude unborn babies are “very likely” to be “extremely sensitive to pain during the gestation of 20 to 30 weeks…This is based on multiple lines of evidence.” 

From LifeNews.com, 1/27/05, NRLC News, 2/05. Bill text and pain documentation can be found at http://www.nrlc.org.

ACTION ALERT

S. 51 and H.R. 356 both need your support.  Contact both NY Senators and your member of the House. 

Ask Senators Schumer and Clinton each to co-sponsor and vote for S.51 in the Senate. 

Ask your member of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor and vote for H.R. 356 in the House. 

Their Washington addresses are below; check your telephone book for local office addresses. 

Updated on RARTL Feb 2005