US House rejects bid to ban sex-selection abortion
June 01, 2012
A bill that would have banned sex-selection abortion was defeated in the US House of Representatives on May 31.
Although a majority of House members backed the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, the legislation failed because it was brought up under a suspension of the House rules, and therefore required a two-thirds majority vote. The final tally was 246- 168 in favor, well short of the number required for passage.
Republican members voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill, by a 226- 7 margin. One of the few Republicans who opposed the legislation was Rep. Ron Paul, the Republican presidential candidate, who libertarian approach weighs against restrictions on abortion.
The Democratic minority in the House swung heavily against the ban, by a 161- 20 margin. President Obama had indicated that he, too, opposed the measure to protect unborn girls from sex-selection abortions.
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Posted by: Alcuin -
Jun. 02, 2012 2:18 PM ET USA
I do not think it is fair to say that 'Ron Paul ... weighs against restrictions on abortion.' Rather he weighs against *federal* restrictions on abortion. His stated objective is that abortion should be treated like all other violent crimes, which are usually handled at the state level.
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Posted by: djpeterson -
Jun. 02, 2012 1:00 PM ET USA
Unfortunately, this bill appears to be done by political hacks using the Pro-life issue in an offensive partisan stunt. Killing of the unborn needs to be ended entirely, and this type of immoral sophistry actually hurts us by suggesting that some abortions are more acceptable than others.
