President vows to veto late-term abortion ban

March 28, 1996
Web posted at: 9:20 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Bob Franken

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton will veto a measure that would ban some late-term abortions, White House officials said Thursday.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday gave final approval to the bill by a vote of 286 to 129. The vote fell mostly along party lines.

White House aides said the president will veto the bill because it contains no exemption taking into account the health of the mother, as well as the life of the mother. However, a Senate amendment does allow, in rare cases, late-term abortion to save the life of the mother.

The bill has enough support in the House to override a veto. Its chances for an overriding vote in the Senate are less certain.

Those in the anti-abortion movement call the procedure "partial birth." Doctors refer to it as "intact D and E." It involves the removal of a late-term fetus from the womb.

Republicans have been the most vocal opponents of the abortion procedure. "If the president vetoes this legislation, then he alone will have empowered the abortionists to kill babies in this way," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey.

More restrictive legislation first passed the House last November. As it was amended and passed by the Senate in December, doctors who could be fined or imprisoned for performing the procedure will not have to prove the mother's life was in jeopardy. It will be up to prosecutors to demonstrate that the mother's life was not on the line.

Those in the abortion rights movement argue their opponents are merely contriving an emotional appeal to challenge the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal.

"The bill's sponsors have consistently argued that it is a first step, and that if they had the votes, they would prohibit all abortions. And I think that many of them would also prohibit birth control," said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-New York. "They want government intrusion in every doctor's office, and eventually in every bedroom."

The Senate amendment was sponsored by the presumed Republican presidential nominee, Majority Leader Bob Dole. The veto from President Clinton assures that the line in the abortion issue will be clearly defined in the upcoming campaign.

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