Republican Senator Marco Rubio is preparing to dive into the abortion debate head first by being a lead sponsor on legislation banning late-term abortions. The move comes after the House of Representatives passed legislation banning abortion after five months in June.
With the Senate being controlled by Democrats, including rabidly pro-abortion Senators like California's Barbara Boxer, the legislation has little chance of passing. However, as the country moves even further to the pro-life side of the abortion argument and as polling shows a majority of Americans, and women, support a ban on late-term abortions, it's worth having the debate on a national level.Sen. Marco Rubio said unequivocally Wednesday that he hopes to be the lead sponsor of a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks.
“If someone else would like to do it instead of me, I’m more than happy to consider it. But I’d like to be the lead sponsor,” the Florida Republican said. “I feel very strongly about this issue. And I’d like to be the lead sponsor on it if we can find language that we can unify people behind.”
The other key factor here is science and it's overwhelmingly on the side of life.
Pain receptors are present throughout the unborn child’s entire body by no later than 16 weeks after fertilization, and nerves link these receptors to the brain’s thalamus and subcortical plate by no later than 20 weeks. For unborn children, says Dr. Paul Ranalli, a neurologist at the University of Toronto, 20 weeks is a “uniquely vulnerable time, since the pain system is fully established, yet the higher level pain-modifying system has barely begun to develop.” As a result, unborn babies at this age probably feel pain more intensely than adults.