There will be a vote next week in the House on a bill to ban abortions 20 weeks after conception.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy
told The Weekly Standard that the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act will limit abortions to before 20 weeks, which is about five months, because after that period is when a fetus can both feel pain and survive outside of the womb.
"Life is precious and we must do everything we can to fight for it and protect it," McCarthy said. "Our commitment for the House to consider this important legislation has been steadfast, and I am proud of the work of our members to prepare this bill for House consideration next week."
A similar measure was passed in 2013 in the House, which provided exceptions for abortions after 20 weeks if rape, incest or the mother's life were at issue.
A 20-week abortion ban was offered in January, when the Republicans first took control of Congress, but it failed when a group of Republican women said that it
didn't have enough protections for women who were raped or victims of incest because it required that rape only be considered if a woman wanting a late-term abortion had reported the alleged crime to the police.
That provision, The Weekly Standard is reporting, is no longer in the bill. It now requires that rape victims are given either medical treatment or counseling 48 hours before an abortion is performed after 20 weeks. In addition, there are also protections for infants born alive in the course of an abortion, an informed consent form explaining the law, and legal recourse for women, if the law is not followed.
The bill is now
gaining more GOP support as well as support from pro-life groups, which are pushing for the bill to be passed.
"It is a simple, compassionate proposal supported by a large majority of Americans, including women and young people," a coalition of pro-life groups, including the Susan B. Anthony List and the Family Research Council, said in joint statement in April in an effort to push forward on the effort.
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