Arkansas Republicans Back Pro-Life D.C. Measure

All four members of the Arkansas Republican delegation indicated this week that they plan to back a pro-life measure affecting the District of Columbia.  Congress acts much like a state legislature for laws affecting D.C.

The District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is a bill very similar to the measure introduced at the state level by Rep. Andy Mayberry (R-Hensley) before its dramatic defeat in the Democratic-controlled House Public Heath Committee. The bill would ban abortion at the point at which the unborn baby can experience pain, which is around 20 weeks.

According to a press release from Arkansas Right to Life, Senator John Boozman, Congressmen Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin, and Steve Womack have all indicated they will support the measure.

“Now is the time for Congress to end the horrors on living unborn children that is occurring in their own back yard,” said Executive Director Arkansas Right to Life Rose Mimms. “We applaud the actions of the Arkansas Republican Congressional delegation in their support of this legislation and urge Senator Mark Pryor and Fourth District Congressman Mike Ross to join them as co-sponsors.”

I have contacted the offices of both Ross and Pryor, but have not yet heard back. (See update on Pryor.)

UPDATE – Sen. Pryor spokesman Michael Teague tells me this afternoon the Sen. Pryor “take a close look at it when the time comes.”  Teague pointed to several pro-life votes Pryor has made including a vote to ban taxpayer funded abortion in D.C., to ban partial birth abortions, and to limit abortions after viability in certain cases.