Congressman Trent Franks' (R-Ariz.) proposed Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (H.R.3541) outlaws race-based and sex-selection abortions, which typically means boys live and girls are killed, but it is being opposed by women's rights advocates and abortionists alike.
For background, read Arizona Abortion Ban for Race/Gender Selection and also read Sex-selection Abortion Possible at 7 Weeks as well as Minorities Targeted by Planned Parenthood for Abortion: Study
UPDATE 12/14/11: NARAL opposes bill saying it would interfere with a women’s right to choose
-- From "Bill would ban abortions based on sex or race" by David Crary, Associated Press 12/6/11
At a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday, supporters of the bill said passage would put the United States formally on record as opposing sex-selection abortions and prevent the country from becoming a "safe haven" for people from countries where the practice already is banned.
In Asian nations such as India and China, where many parents traditionally had a preference for sons, abortions of female fetuses are widespread even when authorities have tried to ban sex-selection abortions.
On a limited basis, the practice has spread to the United States among some couples from Asia, according to a 2008 study by two Columbia University economists. They analyzed the gender of U.S.-born children of Chinese, Korean and Asian Indian parents, and found that the odds of having a boy increased if the family already had a girl or two.
. . . Franks says he included race in the bill because of his dismay over statistics showing that African-American women account for a disproportionately high number of the abortions in America. About 13 percent of American women are black, yet recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control show they account for 35 percent of the abortions.
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From "Abortion Battle Heats Up on the Hill" by Shannon Bream, FoxNews.com 12/5/11
[Rep. Franks] points to a finding by the Guttmacher Institute: "...the abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women." Franks also believes that sex-selection abortions are on the rise in the U.S. and notes a Zogby International poll that found 86 percent of those surveyed believed gender-based abortion choices should be illegal.
Pro-choice advocates say PreNDA is an "anti-choice" measure. Nancy Northup, President of Center for Reproductive Rights, calls it a "trumped up bill for a trumped up problem," and says it's a ridiculous waste of congressional resources at a time when the U.S. economy is faltering.
PreNDA contains both civil penalties and jail time for those who violate the ban, but not the women who seek or obtain abortions. Franks says he believes women who find themselves with an unintended pregnancy are "victims" who need help in the midst of a crisis, not punishment.
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