House Republicans on Thursday passed an alternative anti-abortion bill after pulling their originally planned legislation from the floor in a last-minute scramble.
The new bill, unveiled less than 24 hours earlier, would prohibit taxpayer funding for abortion. Passage fell largely along party lines by a vote of 242-179. Rep. Richard Hanna (N.Y.) was the only Republican to oppose the measure, while three Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Dan Lipinski (Ill.) and Collin Peterson (Minn.) — voted in favor of it.
GOP leaders scheduled the vote for the same day as the annual March for Life, when thousands of anti-abortion-rights demonstrators descend upon the National Mall on the anniversary of theRoe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
But leadership yanked the original measure slated for a vote after complaints from House GOP women and centrists who objected to language granting the victims of rape an exception from the ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy only if the rape was reported to police.
GOP women led by Reps. Renee Ellmers (N.C.) and Jackie Walorski (Ind.) lobbied leadership to change the rape language. The Justice Department estimates that nearly 70 percent of rapes go unreported, often due to victims' fear of retribution.
It’s not clear whether the bill could have passed the House without being changed.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/230416-house-approves-anti-abortion-bill-after-gop-rift
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