Congress Sets Date for Hearing on D.C. Abortion Bill

Next week a House subcommittee will hold a hearing on a Republican-sponsored bill that would ban abortions in D.C. after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, reports Roll Call.

The hearing will be chaired by Rep. Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who introduced the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in January. (Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee introduced a companion bill in the Senate in January.)

The National Right to Life Committee is pushing the bill, and has threatened to attach it to any measure granting D.C. budget autonomy:

NRLC legislative director Douglas Johnson has said that passing the bill, which has a Senate companion introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), is the No. 1 legislative priority in the 112th Congress for his organization. He has also suggested that if House Members do not get an opportunity to vote on the bill in the full House, it could become a rider on any legislation to give D.C. control of its own budget.

In a statement, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton asked Franks to allow her to testify on behalf of D.C. residents at the hearing. “As the only Member of the House who is elected by and accountable to the residents of the District of Columbia, I hope you will allow me to represent the views of my constituents," she said.

In March a small group of protesters targeted Franks' Arizona district office over the bill, which they called an imposition on D.C. Home Rule and an extremist abortion restriction.

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http://dcist.com/2012/05/abortion_hearing_scheduled.php

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