The U.S. House of Representatives voted 237 to 189 on Tuesday to ban most abortions after the fifth month of pregnancy, when infants are old enough to feel pain and survive if born prematurely. Only three Democrats supported the bill, while just two Republicans voted against it.
The bill first passed the House in 2013 following the trial of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist who was convicted on three counts of first-degree murderfor killing infants after they had been born. When Republicans took back control of the Senate in 2015, the bill received its first vote in Congress's upper chamber, where 51 Republicans and 3 Democrats backed it, falling short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
After Gosnell's conviction, prominent advocates of a right-to-abortion, such as Nancy Pelosi, Wendy Davis, and Cecile Richards, were unable to explain the difference between the crimes for which Gosnell was convicted and the late-term abortions they want to keep legal.
As John McCormack wrote at the time:
What was the lesson of the Kermit Gosnell trial? Since the Philadelphia doctor was convicted last month of murdering three born-alive infants, two competing viewpoints have emerged.
For some, like Senate majority leader Harry Reid and national abortion-rights organizations, the Gosnell case highlighted the need for "clean and sterile" late-term abortion clinics.
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01.20.2025