The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” today, a bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks with the exception of cases of rape and incest against a minor.
The Republican incentive was recently amended to give exception to cases of rape and incest, and it requires that rape charges be made prior to an abortion if it is after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Although some pro-life advocates are upset with these exclusions to the late-term abortion ban, only about 0.5% of abortions performed past 20 weeks of pregnancy are for women who were subject to these crimes.
More than 90% of infants are able to survive outside of the womb by 27 weeks of gestation, and over half of them can survive after only 25 weeks. About 1.5% of abortions are performed after 20 weeks of gestation, with mothers citing a lack of awareness of their pregnancy as the predominant reason for the late abortion.
