WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders are planning a House vote next week on a bill banning late-term abortions after dropping a requirement tjohat rape victims would qualify for the procedure only if they’d already reported the crime to authorities.
Top House Republicans abruptly reversed plans to debate the measure in January after GOP women and moderates objected to that reporting requirement. Instead, the new version requires rape victims to have counseling or medical treatment at least 48 hours before an abortion.
Top GOP aides predicted the measure would be approved. Anti-abortion groups including National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List worked with House leaders in crafting the new bill and support it.
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, called the measure “a strong bill” in a written statement and saidGOP leaders “deserve great credit for not taking the easy route of gravely weakening the bill in order to facilitate a quick vote.”
The bill would make most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy illegal, with few exceptions. In January, a group of GOP women objected that the reporting requirement was harsh and unfair for women already facing the extraordinary stress of a sexual assault.
The legislation was opposed by Democrats and abortion rights groups.
The measure’s fate remains cloudy in the more moderate Senate, where abortion rights lawmakers would be able to stifle the measure by denying it the 60 votes it would need to end a filibuster.
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