House GOP Pull Back on Vote for 20-Week Abortion Ban

iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — With the annual March for Life event taking place in Washington Thursday, Republican lawmakers traditionally mark the occasion by passing pro-life legislation.

That tradition was in jeopardy Wednesday when a group of Republican women, who likely realized the votes were not in place, revolted and forced House leadership to change course on its plan to further limit abortions after 20 weeks.

Instead, the House will take up the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, an alternative pro-life measure to prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions, teeing up a bitterly partisan debate on the floor Thursday. The measure has previously passed in the House during the 112th and 113th sessions of Congress.

“Some concerns were raised by men and women Members that still need to be worked out,” a senior GOP leadership aide wrote in an email Wednesday night. “Tomorrow we will vote to advance the pro-life cause and remain committed to continue working through the process on pain capable to make sure it too is successful.”

The bill that was yanked from the floor schedule, known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would have rolled back the current policy from 24 weeks to 20 weeks.

As for the 20-week abortion bill, one Republican aide conceded that the suggestion that congressional leadership revisits the ban later this year is lip service.

But many GOP women, like Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-North Carolina, opposed a provision in the bill that requires rape victims to report the incident to authorities in order to get an abortion.

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