Pro-life and pro-family groups vow that President Clinton's veto April 10 of the "partial birth" abortion ban bill will haunt him in November's election.
Clinton said the bill needed an exception for the health of mothers, but pro-life groups indicated that exemptions on psychological or emotional grounds would have rendered the law meaningless. "President Clinton is defending the killing of live, kicking babies who feel pain and who are a mere three inches from birth," says Michael Ferguson, executive director of the Catholic Campaign for America.
The House banned the controversial third trimester procedure (CT, Dec. 11, 1996, p. 69) in March by a vote of 286 to 129. The Senate did the same last December by a 55-to-44 vote, not enough to sustain the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.
Copyright © 1996 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Our digital archives are a work in progress. Let us know if corrections need to be made.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineShould the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?Controversy over Bibles in Jamaica, the Philippines, and Germany reveal the divide between the sacred and the relatable.
- Editor's PickA Theologian’s Vision of ‘Peasant’ Politics Is Surprisingly Lordly in ScopeEphraim Radner’s “narrow” concern for protecting the mundane goods of earthly life isn’t so narrow after all.