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Ranking Member Cohen Condemns Bill Aiming to Ban Pre-Viability Abortions

November 1, 2017

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – At a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing today, Ranking Member Steve Cohen condemned as "unwarranted government interference" a Republican-sponsored bill that would ban a woman's right to an abortion if the fetus' heartbeat can be detected, which can often occur as early as at six-weeks' gestation. See Cohen's opening statement here.

"By banning pre-viability abortions after as early as six weeks' gestation, this bill would substantially narrow the window within which a woman may exercise her constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy," a right recognized since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, Cohen said.

According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "safe, legal abortion is a necessary component of women's health care." Cohen said the so-called "Heartbeat Protection Act," H.R. 490, would use politics to interfere in the practice of medicine and he strongly opposes it.