Coats Calls for Passage of Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) spoke on the Senate floor last night and called for passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

“Advances in science and medical technology require us to confront, both now and in the future, some ethical questions that are profoundly important,” said Coats. “This week, the United States Senate will have the opportunity to do so. We have the opportunity to protect the unborn children in this country whose lives are being ended – in many cases brutally – at an age at which these children are capable of experiencing pain.” 

Coats noted that prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy wouldn’t just be beneficial for unborn children. 

“It also is indisputable that the later in pregnancy an abortion occurs, the riskier it is for the mother and the more painful it is for the child,” said Coats. “Research shows that a woman seeking an abortion at 20 weeks is 35 times more likely to die from abortion than she was in the first trimester. At 21 weeks or more, she is 91 times more likely to die from abortion than she was in the first trimester. These significant risks to maternal health should cause all of us concern.”

Click here to watch Senator Coats speak on the Senate floor.