Abortion in D.C.

After the midterm elections, the House G.O.P. leadership announced an end to special votes used for “expressions of appreciation and recognition.” They had in mind resolutions like No. 1429, which stated that American mothers “have made immeasurable contributions,” or like No. 1460, which recognized “the importance of pollinators in agriculture” with the establishment of a National Pollinator Week.

House Republicans didn’t do away with purely symbolic legislation all together, however. Bills with absolutely no chance of becoming law, introduced only to express ideology (as opposed to appreciation), are rampant. Take, for instance, a bill the House Judiciary Committee approved today that would ban abortion in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no health exception. It will advance to the full House for a vote, but will never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

If 20 weeks sounds arbitrary, that’s because it is. Rep. Trent Franks, the Republican sponsor, said fetuses can feel pain at that point, but the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians said it “knows of no legitimate scientific information” supporting that claim.

If the whole bill sounds like an anti-libertarian, big government imposition on Washington’s autonomy, that’s because it is. Mr. Franks represents an Arizona district that, as Think Progress noted, is “2,300 miles and two time zones away from the nation’s capital.” Washington’s sole congressional representative, Eleanor Holmes Norton, opposes the measure—but Mr. Franks refused to allow her to testify at a subcommittee hearing.

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http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/abortion-in-d -c/

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