The bill, named Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibits abortion to a fetus which is older than 20 weeks without some exception such as the risk for mother's life. It will illegalize some abortions and make mothers get the birth the chide.
With Trump’s backing, House approves ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy
The establishment of this bill is one of the promises of Donald Trump who has gained the support of conservative Christian voters. Traditionally, Republicans are against abortions while Democrats accept them. It was natural for the ruling Republican Party to struggle for passing the bill.
However, the majority of Senators are opposed to this bill. Therefore, it is doubtful this bill will be enforced. Some Democrats say the argument is a waste of time.
One of the concepts of this bill is a hypothesis that a fetus can feel pain at 20-weeks. But this idea is not authorized by relevant academic organizations. I am also skeptical of this idea. It is known that a fetus under 22 weeks cannot survive out of the uterus even with artificial supports. According to this fact, fetus under 22 weeks has not been an independent life yet. Such fetus never feels its emotions, I reckon.
In Japan, there were many illegal abortions conducted by non-licensed clinicians the other days. As a result, many mothers, most of them were poor, were killed by medical complications with abortion. Thus, too strict legislation will lead to the mass criminalization of poor people. If this act is realized, illegal and risky abortion will increase, I am afraid.
On the other hand, Japanese tend to underrepresent the value of the life of children. Now, "Mother Protection Act" regulates the abortions for medical reasons. This act was originated from "Superiority Protection Act" in 1996. Its title, as well as some contents, is quite discriminative. Even now, there is a scarce discussion about abortion. Some mothers take her child's life for various reasons. In these cases, they tend to be given relatively slight punishment by the court verdict.
Child protection is a crucially important issue. A balanced discussion is necessary for the better management of unexpected pregnancy.
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