All that has changed with the debate over late-term or ““partial birth’’ abortions: Capitol Hill is now ground zero. This week the Senate is expected to consider banning the dilation and extraction (D&X) procedure, which involves piercing the fetus ’s skull. Last week it nixed two less restrictive Democratic proposals. While the tougher ban will pass, it is unlikely to get enough votes to override Bill Clinton’s certain veto.
Whether or not the ban is enacted, the debate over late-term abortions marks a milestone. For the first time Congress is ““not merely regulating [an abortion] procedure,’’ says Helen Alvare of the National Conference of Bishops, ““they’re banning i t.’’ Pro-choice advocates agree. ““This is a fundamental challenge,’’ says Kate Michelman of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. At the very least, the emotional argument is a victory for pro-life forces who have turned a relativ ely rare procedure into a larger debate about all late-term abortions. Indeed, when D&X was first described at a medical conference in 1992, opponents of legal abortion knew they had a powerful weapon.
The initial test came during the 1996 campaign, when Clinton vetoed a ban similar to the one now before the Senate. To bolster his argument, he was flanked by women who had had the procedure when their pregnancies not only threatened their ability to have more children but also their lives. Bob Dole couldn’t get traction with the issue. But Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa, up for re-election last year, had a near-death experience when his GOP opponent blasted the senator with direct mail and TV ads hi ghlighting his vote to uphold Clinton’s veto. Internal campaign polls showed him to be a goner. Harkin survived, but now he’s ““undecided’’ on the ban. Right-to-life forces have targeted TV ads at wavering senators - including Harkin, Florida’s Bob Graha m and Georgia’s Max Cleland.
Ironically, the new abortion wars come at a time when both sides had seemed to be eschewing shouting in favor of a hearts-and-minds approach to winning converts. ““Life. What a Beautiful Choice’’ is the pitch line in countless TV ads by the right-t o-life Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation. For their part, some advocates of legal abortion had called for common ground. But as senators take to C-Span with talk of punctured fetuses and maimed mothers, such expressions of good will seem distant indeed.
