Partial-birth abortion ban gets Congressional push
House Republicans are again pushing for a total ban on partial-birth abortion, the Associated Press reports.

"It's time for Congress to act and place this bill in front of the president so that we can finally end this national tragedy," says Rep. Steve Chabot, sponsor of H.R. 760. "While I expect that some of the Senate's most zealous pro-abortion advocates will again attempt to block this legislation, I am confident that we will finally be able to pass this ban into law."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner says House Republican leaders hope to have the bill passed before the Easter break.

But "some lawmakers hoped to counter the bill with legislation introduced Thursday that would ban the late-term abortions except when they are performed to protect the mother's life," the AP reports. Supporters of this bill say such an exception will make it more likely to stand up to a Supreme Court challenge (the court struck down a Nebraska ban on the procedure in 2000). But prolife organizations criticized this alternative bill a counterfeit when it was introduced in earlier conferences.

Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee, which The Roanoke Times notes is "historically hostile to anti-abortion measures," approved a partial-birth abortion ban and a parental consent bill. "This year's legislative agenda contains 10 years worth of prolife legislation rolled into one," Delegate Richard H. Black told The Washington Times.

More life ethics news:

• Nurse nabbed in abortion clinic shooting | Brenda Kaye Phillips, 44, of Murphy, was charged with one misdemeanor count of damage to property for shooting at the Femcare Women's Clinic early Thursday (Associated Press)