Bill calls for banning abortions after 20 weeks, asserts fetuses can feel pain

A bill introduced by Delaware legislators Tuesday would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, asserting that by then fetuses can both feel pain and survive outside the womb. 

Called the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," the bill is sponsored by state Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford, and state Rep. Tim Dukes, R-Laurel. 

In front of Legislative Hall in Dover, they talked about the bill before an audience of 150, some holding dolls representing 20-week-old unborn children. 

"By eight weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch," the new bill says. "After 20 weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human, for example, by recoiling." 

Richardson summarized, saying "this is a fully-formed child, with a heartbeat ... just a few weeks away from what most people recognize as viability." 

Dr. Donna Harrison, an obstetrician/gynecologist with the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, addressed the audience with facts and descriptions of what is involved with an abortion after 20 weeks.

She mentioned three types of procedures: dilation and extraction, partial birth abortion and induction. Dilation and extraction, referred to as D&E, is the most common, she said. Her description of the procedure was graphic. 

"Let’s talk about D&E abortions, where the mother’s womb is opened to allow a forceps to be introduced," she said in a statement. "Then the living baby is pulled apart in pieces ...

"It is hard to imagine a more gruesome way to die. If veterinarians ripped apart living dogs or cats to kill them in the same way that living human unborn children are ripped apart in the D&E procedure, the outcry would be deafening." 

So-called "20-week bans" are opposed by many doctors, however. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which represents more than 58,000 OB-GYNs, disputes that fetuses can feel anything at 20 weeks.

ACOG also opposed a U.S. Senate bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks. That legislation, which had strong backing by the Trump administration, fell significantly short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Republicans said they expected the bill to fail, but brought it up anyway to make vulnerable Democrats take a position on what tends to be a controversial issue. 

In Iowa, legislators recently passed one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.

The law, which goes into effect July 1 if the courts don't stop it, will require physicians to conduct an abdominal ultrasound to test for a fetal heartbeat on any woman seeking an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected, a physician cannot perform an abortion.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in December vetoed a Republican bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks. He vows to veto a bill to prevent women from having an abortion if the fetus shows signs of having Down syndrome, as well, but is up for reelction this year. 

Harrison said abortions performed after 20 weeks are also emotionally stressful for mothers. 

Find her full statement at the end of this story, as well as full text of the newly proposed bill. 

Richardson thought members of the General Assembly would support the bill if they learned more about the actual abortion process. He hopes to hold a Senate vote on the issue before the end of the session. 

"It's really horrendous for the child to have to go through," he said, confident his fellow legislators "won't want Delaware to continue this practice." 

Planned Parenthood says nearly 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks, but when they are needed later in pregnancy, it’s often in complex circumstances.

Twenty-week bans criminalize doctors who are trying to care for women in dangerous medical situations, Planned Parenthood says, adding that a recent survey shows 61 percent of all voters say abortion should be legal after 20 weeks

Richardson's bill says medical practitioners would be charged with a class D Felony for breaking the new law, which carries a sentence of up to eight years in prison. 

“There are many reasons a woman may seek abortion care at 20 weeks, including fatal or serious medical conditions to the woman and/or her fetus that cannot be diagnosed at earlier stages of pregnancy," ACOG said in a statement. "Determining if and when an abortion is necessary belongs in the exam room, between a woman, her physician and those she trusts — not on the Senate floor." 

Richardson's bill includes an exception for medical emergencies which threaten the life of the mother, his office said in a statement. 

The bill also noted that Delaware would not be asking the Supreme Court to overturn or replace Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus.

"Rather, it asserts a separate and independent compelling state interest in unborn human life that exists once the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain," the bill says. 

The General Assembly passed legislation last year that ensures abortion remains legal in the event Roe v. Wade it is overturned by the Supreme Court. 

State Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, who sponsored the 2017 bill, said Richardson tried to pass a 20-week ban as an amendment to Senate Bill 5 last June.  

"It was voted down," Townsend said. "It was voted down because it does not represent the balance most Delawareans believe should exist when to comes to a woman's right to choose what happens to her own body." 

Townsend said doctors like Harrison do not represent the majority of medical practitioners. Several well-respected doctors gave testimony before the General Assembly last year and said fetuses are not viable and do not feel pain before the third-trimester. 

He does not think Richardson's bill will get enough support to advance. 

"This does not represent medical science," Townsend said. "It does not represent the constitutional rights of women. What it does represent is a step backward." 

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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.