House Panel OKs D.C. Late-Term Abortion Ban

A congressional committee has approved a bill seeking to place a limitation on D.C.'s unfettered abortion policy, Baptist Press reports. The House Judiciary Committee voted 18-14 along party lines July 18 to send the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to the full chamber. The legislation would prohibit abortions in D.C. at 20 weeks or more after fertilization, based on evidence that an unborn baby experiences pain by that point. If enacted, it would provide a restriction in a jurisdiction that has legalized abortion throughout pregnancy until birth -- D.C. in 2004 "repealed all limitations on abortion at any stage of pregnancy."