Strong New Support for a Pro-Life Bill as US Catholic Bishops Endorse The Heartbeat Protection Act

By Calvin Freiburger
Life Site News

"A chorus of 60 million innocent heavenly voices, never heard in this world but heard beautifully and clearly in the next, plead with us to protect the lives of all innocents," he concluded. "We are called to join our voices together to raise them in an anthem for Life..." -Rep. Steve King, R-IA

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has endorsed legislation that would ban most abortions in the U.S., according to the bill’s lead sponsor. (Image via LifeSiteNews)

The Heartbeat Protection Act would require abortionists to first test whether a fetal heartbeat can be detected, and then forbid committing an abortion if the answer is "yes." It allows an exception only for life-threatening physical circumstances (expressly rejecting exceptions for "psychological or emotional" health). Physicians who break the law would face up to five years in prison and/or a fine; women seeking abortions would not be punished.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Steve King, R-IA, said in an Oct. 12 article that the USCCB has signaled its support for the measure.

"I made a trip to Kansas City to discuss H.R. 490 with Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who will soon chair the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, and set up a phone discussion on 'Heartbeat’ with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who agreed to speak with Cardinal Dolan, the current chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities," King wrote in the National Catholic Register.

"Work and prayers do yield results," he continued. "I can now announce the 'Heartbeat Protection Act' has earned the endorsement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops"... 

King then quoted from a letter by Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.

“It is also due to scientific advances that we have the tools to hear the early heartbeat of the growing child,” Dolan wrote. “Accordingly, the Catholic Bishops applaud your efforts to recognize and protect these little ones in law while emphasizing that we need to continue to work for the protection of all lives-including those tiniest persons before a heartbeat is detectable.”

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Federal Heartbeat Bill Would Ban Abortion Once a Heartbeat is Detected

“The core tenet is this: If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected.” 

By Susan Michele-Hanson
Live Action News

It’s the first time for the United States, and it might allow babies their first breaths. The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017, known as the “Heartbeat Bill,” (H.R. 490) is the first ever heartbeat bill introduced at the federal level. It’s headed to a hearing next Wednesday, November 1.

The text of the bill is simple, though its implications are profound. H.R. 490 says, in full:

This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform an abortion: (1) without determining whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, (2) without informing the mother of the results, or (3) after determining that a fetus has a detectable heartbeat.

It provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical (but not psychological or emotional) disorder, illness, or condition.

A physician who performs a prohibited abortion is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.

A baby’s heartbeat is present at 22 days after fertilization (roughly five weeks of pregnancy), and recent scientific studies indicate the heart may begin to beat six days sooner than that, at 16 days. Ultrasounds can detect the heartbeat very shortly after it begins.

Rep. Steve King is not a solo act in this bill, though he is leading the charge. Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) is the original cosponsor and, altogether, there are 169 co-sponsors. While the list predictably holds names of Republicans, the cosponsors so far include one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson (MN).

Reportedly, other members of Congress, who elected not to co-sponsor the bill, have indicated their support and a likely “yes” vote, should it come to the House floor. This would bring the vote count to 200 currently, but Rep. King expects to gain more supporters as discussion on the bill continues. 218 votes are needed to pass the House.

Should the Heartbeat Bill make it through its current subcommittee, it will be sent to the full Judiciary Committee. If it passes there, the floor vote is expected to take place on January 19, 2018 which is during the week of Roe v. Wade‘s anniversary.

Should the Heartbeat Bill make it through its current subcommittee, it will be sent to the full Judiciary Committee. If it passes there, the floor vote is expected to take place on January 19, 2018 which is during the week of Roe v. Wade‘s anniversary.

When the Heartbeat Bill was launched earlier this year, Rep. King explained that it could not be more scientifically clear when life begins. “The question that has hung before the courts, since 1973 is: ‘When does life begin?’ – we all know when that is,” he said. While science unequivocally states that life begins at fertilization, Rep. King also asserts that anyone should be able to plainly agree and see that there is life when there is a heartbeat.

“The core tenet is this: If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected,” he said.

This bill simply seeks to support what science has shown in the decades since Roe v. Wade was decided, and that is the moment that life begins–with a heartbeat.

ACTIVISM NEEDED: Email and call the two Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Republicans who are not cosponsors, Karen Handel (GA-6) and Ron DeSantis (FL-6). Ask them to vote the bill out to the full Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. One of them must vote in favor of the Heartbeat Bill in order to outnumber the Democrats on the subcommittee, who reportedly do not support the bill.

Website: Live Action News

Rep. Steve King Files Federal Pro-Life Heartbeat Bill: ‘If a Heartbeat Is Detected, the Baby Is Protected’

By Neil McCabe
Breitbart

Pro-life congressmen stood in front of the Capitol — along with Janet Porter, the Ohio woman who led the fight for passage of that state’s “heartbeat bill” — all in support of Rep. Steve A. King (R.-Iowa) and his Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017, H.R. 490, which restores legal protection to unborn children once their pulse is detected.

“It is a profound religious and moral understanding that every human person has the right to life,” said King, who was joined by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R.-Texas), Rep. Trent Franks (R.-Ariz.), Rep. Scott G. Perry (R.-Pa.), and Rep.Don Bacon R.-Neb.), along with other prolife supporters of the bill.

“The question that has hung before the courts, since 1973 is: ‘When does life begin?’–we all know when that is,” the congressman said.

"We stand here and assert that it has to be a distinctive moment. You can’t guess a thing called viability. You can’t say 22 weeks versus 20 weeks. You have to say it is at a specific instant. The most precise instant that we can describe and that we can identify by science is the moment that that heartbeat begins,” he said.

"The core tenet is this: If a heartbeat can be detected, the baby is protected,” he said.

King, who is the chairman of the Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, said the only exception to the protection for the unborn in the bill is for those circumstances when the life of the mother is in physical danger.  Abortionists who violate the law would face up to five years in prison, he said.

Breitbart article continues