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| Date: | May 16, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Susan Closmore | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-5712 | | Contact Email: | susan.closmore@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR HOFFMAN’S PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT PASSES IN THE STATE SENATE |
St. Paul-- Senator Gretchen Hoffman (R-Vergas) and the Minnesota State Senate passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act on the Senate floor Monday with bi-partisan support by a vote of 42 to 24. This bill looks to prohibit abortions at or after the 20 week gestational age unless certain exceptions apply; such as risking the health of the mother by continuing with the pregnancy.
Reasoning for the bill stems from research which shows that at just 16 weeks pain receptors are present throughout an unborn child's entire body, and nerves link these receptors to the brain by 20 weeks.
“Unborn babies are the most precious lives we have in this world. They are also the most silent,” said Senator Hoffman in response to the passage of her bill. “They cannot tell us about the excruciating pain they experience during inhumane abortions; pain which we as Americans would not even wish on a dog. I feel one of the most important responsibilities of our legislative body is to protect innocent life, no matter how small or silent that life may be. This bill protects these babies and I am thrilled that it passed with bi-partisan support in the Senate.”
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act has passed both bodies of the legislature and now the Minnesota Senate and House will come together in conference committee to reconcile differences between the two versions before Governor Dayton makes a final decision on whether it will be signed into law.
