ABORTION Issue Backgrounder Online NewsHour

NewsHour Backgrounders Aug. 7, 1996: The abortion issue threatened to disrupt the Republican National Convention until a compromise was worked out. April 11, 1996: President Clinton, in a heavily criticized move, vetoed a ban of a rare late-term abortion. Nov. 7, 1995: Senators Bob Smith [R-NH] and Barbara Boxer [D-CA] debate the late-term abortion ban and its affects on Roe v. Wade. Outside Links Two groups that have been working since 1973 to end lgealized abortions are the National Right to Life Committee. Other groups, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League have been working to protect legalized abortion.

Abortion continues to be one of the most divisive issues in contemporary America. It is an issue which does not break cleanly along any party line. Many notable Republicans have openly expressed opposition to their party's pro-life stance and several high ranking Congressional Democrats like House Minority Whip David Bonior maintain their pro-life opinions in a party dominated by pro-choice. During the 104th Congress the abortion controversy focused on one bill to ban one form of late-term abortion. The procedure, done in the later half of pregnancy, evoked passions on both sides of the issue and continues to be played out on the political stage. Pro-life groups, who have termed the procedure a "partial-birth abortion," pushed for a ban in 1993. Following the Republican capture of the House and Senate in 1994, proponents of the ban moved to have it considered on its own. Representative Charles Canady (R-FL) introduced the Partial Birth Abortion Ban in the House on June 15, 1995 and Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) introduced the same bill in the Senate the next day. Although debate was heated, the ban passed both chambers with ease. The House voted 286 - 129 on November 1, 1995. The ban then moved on to the Senate where, by a narrower margin, the Senate voted 54-44 to adopted the motion. On April 5 of this year, the bill was put before the President. After five days of consideration, President Clinton vetoed the measure, while five women who had had the procedure stood by him. Yet, when Bill Clinton vetoed the ban, the issue did not end. As of September, Republicans in the House were preparing to try and override the President's veto. Pro-life groups feel this debate has energized their grassroots for the next step. "This legislation has so mobilized pro-lifers, that the effect of it . . . will strengthen them for a very long time," Helen Alvare, spokeswoman for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, told The Washington Post in a recent interview. "For years, the best we've been able to do in Congress is preserve some funding restrictions. To get from that into the question of abortion itself was a huge leap." Pro-Choice groups have called this bill the "politiciz[ation of] personal family tragedies." According to groups like National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League [NARAL], "Opponents of choice, by focusing political debate on late term abortion, are exploiting a rare and tragic occurrence to further their goal of making all abortion illegal. H.R. 1833, the late term abortion ban passed by the 104th Congress and vetoed by President Clinton . . . is the safest abortion method for many women after 19 weeks gestation." Politics aside, the substance of the abortion issue continues to fluctuate. Here are some brief facts regarding abortion in the United States: Approximately 1.5 million abortions were performed in the United States in 1994. This number represents a continuing decline since 1990, when 1.6 million abortions were performed, but is more than double the 744,600 reported in 1973. The late-term abortion discussed in the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban" legislation make up only 1.2 percent of the 1.4 million abortions performed in the United States. 29 percent of all U.S. pregnancies not ending in miscarriage are aborted. As of 1988, 83 percent of all U.S. counties lacked an abortion provider. Less than 10 percent of abortions are performed after the first trimester; less than one percent are performed after the twenty-fourth week. In the 104th Congress, five proposed "right to life" constitutional amendments had been proposed as of September 15, 1996.

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