Statement of Administration Policy: S. 3 - Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(Senate)

(Sen. Santorum (R) PA and 42 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports enactment of S. 3, which would ban an abhorrent procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion. The bill is narrowly tailored and exempts those procedures necessary to save the life of the mother.

Partial-birth abortion is a late-term abortion procedure that is not accepted by the medical community. Approximately 30 States have attempted to ban it. The Administration strongly believes that enactment of S. 3 is both morally imperative and constitutionally permissible.

The Administration strongly opposes any amendment to the bill that would limit its application to a time after the child is determined to be viable, which could allow this procedure to be used as late as the fifth or sixth months of pregnancy, when most partial birth abortions are performed. The Administration supports the exception for procedures necessary to save the life of the mother, but strongly opposes any amendments to create additional exceptions because these exceptions may create open-ended loopholes and allow use of the procedure even in the third-trimester.