House passes abortion ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy

House lawmakers Tuesday passed a nationwide ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy -- one of the most far-reaching federal bills on abortion in years. The bill, which faces long odds in the Senate and even longer odds to get the president's signature, is unlikely to ever become law.

NPR: House Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks
The House has passed one of the most far-reaching abortion bills in decades. But it's unlikely to ever become law. By a mostly party-line vote Tuesday of 228-196, lawmakers passed the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," which would ban nearly all abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization (Rovner, 6/18).

The Wall Street Journal: House Votes To Put New Limits On Abortions
The bill, which would ban abortion after a fetus is 20 weeks old, returns the spotlight to an issue that bedeviled the GOP in the 2012 elections, when some Republicans' comments about abortions resulting from rape cost the party support among women. The House vote was 228-196, with 6 Democrats joining 222 Republicans in support. Opposing the measure were 190 Democrats and 6 Republicans (Hook, 6/18).

USA Today: House Passes Far-Reaching Bill To Limit Abortions
The bill included an exemption for women who get pregnant through rape or incest as long as they first report the sexual assault to legal authorities. It was added at the last minute by House Republican leaders after a broader Democratic amendment to add the exemption was defeated in the House Judiciary Committee last week. "It shows a distrust of women and a lack of the reality of sexual assaults," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., regarding the legal conditions placed on the exemption (Davis, 6/18).

Politico: House OKs 20-Week Abortion Ban Bill
The House Tuesday passed a bill that would ban most abortions nationwide after 20 weeks. The most far-reaching abortion legislation in the House in a decade, it was passed 228-196, mostly along party lines. The vote is largely symbolic: The bill will be dead on arrival in the Senate. And the White House has already threatened to veto the "fetal pain" legislation, which is based on the controversial assertion that a fetus can feel pain at that stage of development (Smith and Gibson, 6/19).

Star Tribune: GOP-Led House Passes Sweeping Abortion Restrictions
Republicans in the U.S. House passed sweeping new restrictions on late-term abortions Tuesday, a mostly symbolic initiative that served to re-ignite social and cultural tensions that divided the nation in the last presidential election. Two Minnesota Republicans were among the bill's 184 co-sponsors: Reps. John Kline and Michele Bachmann. So was rural Democrat and abortion rights foe Collin Peterson. A third Minnesota Republican, Rep. Erik Paulsen, joined in a largely party-line vote of 228-196, but was not a co-sponsor (Diaz, 6/18). 

ABC News: House Passes Bill Banning Abortion After 20 Weeks
The House of Representatives voted this evening to pass legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks, except in what Democrats assailed as "narrow" cases of incest of a minor, rape, and health of the mother, prompting a partisan debate on the House floor as lawmakers grappled over the question of how soon a fetus is able to detect pain in the womb. The bill, H.R. 1797 -- Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, passed by a vote of 228-196. Six Republicans opposed the measure, while six Democrats crossed the aisle to support it (Parkinson, 6/18).

CBS News: House Republicans Pass 20-Week Limit On Abortions 
Despite calls from Republican Party leaders to move away from focusing on social issues, especially in light of the GOP's 2012 election losses, the Republican-led House of Representatives Tuesday passed a bill that would restrict abortions to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Restricting the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision by a month, the bill is a statement from social conservatives in the House and no more. It passed along party lines -- all but six Republicans voted yea and all but six Democrats voted nay -- but has no chance of even being considered in the Democratic-controlled Senate and, even if it did and passed there, President Obama said he would veto it (Haven, 6/18).

Bloomberg: House Votes To Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks Of Pregnancy
The House of Representatives voted to ban abortions nationwide past 20 weeks of pregnancy, joining at least 10 states in seeking to expand prohibitions on the procedure further than the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed. The bill, passed yesterday on a mostly party-line 228-196 vote, would make such abortions a crime with a possible prison sentence (Tiron, 6/19).