Bills
| 3.23.22

Should Abortions After 20 Weeks of Pregnancy Be Prohibited (With Exceptions)? (S. 3275)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 3275?

(Updated June 9, 2021)

This bill — the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act — would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Abortions after 20 weeks would be allowed if the mother’s life is threatened by the pregnancy or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. It would also require an abortion provider to be trained in neonatal resuscitation and to exercise the degree of care necessary to save the life of a child born alive after an attempted abortion, including admission to the hospital. Doctors who violate the bill's requirements would face a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

A woman, or the parents of a minor, would be able to sue the provider for damages stemming from abortions provided in violation of this bill. No damages could be assessed against the woman upon whom the abortion was performed or attempted.

The bill includes findings that there is “substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain at least 20 weeks after fertilization, if not earlier.” For instance, the bill notes that at 20 weeks, “the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human, for example, by recoiling.”

Argument in favor

Unborn babies can feel pain at 20 weeks after fertilization, and abortions that occur after 5 months of pregnancy are cruel and should be outlawed except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life.

Argument opposed

This bill would place undue restrictions on the ability of women to make their own reproductive health decisions. There shouldn’t be a time limit on the right to an abortion.

Impact

Pregnant women in the U.S.; abortion rights groups; anti-abortion activist groups; and healthcare providers offering abortions.

Cost of S. 3275

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced this bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization, at which point the bill contends there is evidence the unborn can feel pain:

“There are only seven countries that allow wholesale abortions at the 20-week period, including China and North Korea. The United States should not be in that club. I don’t believe abortion, five months into pregnancy, makes us a better nation. America is at her best when she’s standing up for the least among us and the sooner we pass this legislation into law, the better. We are on the right side of history.”

The Trump administration released a statement in support of the House version of this legislation during the last Congress, saying that President Donald Trump would sign the bill into law.

Pro-choice groups denounced this legislation as an affront to a woman's right to obtain an abortion. Planned Parenthood tweeted that the bill's House counterpart in the previous Congress was "unpopular" and "unconstitutional" with NARAL adding it's part of a plan by "anti-choice House Republicans" to "ban abortion outright".

This legislation has the support of 47 cosponsors in the Senate, all of whom are Republicans. In the previous Congress, this bill’s House companion passed on a 237-189 vote while its predecessor in the Senate was blocked on a 51-46 procedural vote.


Of Note: According to the Guttmacher Institute there are 24 states that impose abortion bans after a certain number of weeks, 17 of which ban abortion at about 20 weeks post-fertilization or its equivalent of 22 weeks from the last menstrual period on the grounds that the fetus can feel pain. 

Only the U.S., Canada, North Korea, China, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Netherlands allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy according to Politifact.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Ambernectar 13 via Flickr / Creative Commons)