House Passes Anti-Abortion Bill

House victory probably end of the road for Protect Life Act
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 14, 2011 2:38 AM CDT
Updated Oct 14, 2011 7:54 AM CDT
'Protect Life Act' Passes House
Anti-abortion activists march in front of the US Supreme Court earlier this year.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ban women from using the health reform law’s subsidies to buy health care plans that cover abortions. The "Protect Life Act"—which passed 251-172 after a heated debate—would also allow hospitals to turn away women who need emergency care that includes an abortion, the Huffington Post reports. The bill's Republican backers say it is intended to ensure that no taxpayer money funds abortions.

Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California, told the House of her own emergency late-term abortion. "I was pregnant, I was miscarrying, I was bleeding," she said. "If I had to go from one hospital to the next trying to find one emergency room that would take me in, who knows if I would even be here today." The bill, which House Republicans say is part of their "Pledge to America," is unlikely to make it to the Senate. The White House has said it will be vetoed if it ever makes it to President Obama's desk. (More Protect Life Act stories.)

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