The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to ban late-term abortions; President Trump says he will sign it.

Continuing the wave of pro-life legislation, the U.S House of Representatives has once again passed the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This bill, previously passed in 2015, seeks to make abortion after 20 weeks illegal.

This is a common sense piece of legislation in that it seeks to make it illegal to dismember unborn children capable of feeling pain while they are in the womb. Regardless of whether you support abortion or not, the idea of allowing an unborn child be dismembered should be repulsive. This is not a “blob of tissue,” or a ‘clump of cells,” this is a human being capable of feeling the same pain you and I feel.

A recent article carried the sentiments of Rep. Chris Smith as he echoed the belief of a majority of Americans that agree abortion after 20 weeks is barbaric and should not be tolerated. Smith said:

“Overwhelming majorities of Americans—some 60-64% according to pollsters—support legal protection for pain-capable unborn children. Today we know that unborn babies not only die but suffer excruciating pain during dismemberment abortion—a cruelty that rips arms and legs off a helpless child.”

I’m having a hard time thinking of a scenario in which it would be appropriate to kill an innocent human. It’s an even harder scenario to consider when the human in question is capable of feeling pain and being subject to extreme torture. Any person that claims to represent the civil liberties of other humans has no choice but defend the unborn or admit that he or she is a hypocrite.

Congressman Sean Duffey reminded his fellow politicians that they cannot claim to be a voice for the voiceless if they turn their back on the unborn:

“I’ve listened to the floor debate day after day…about how they fight for the forgotten, they fight for the defenseless, they fight for the voiceless. And they pound their chest and stomp their feet. You don’t have anyone in our society that’s more defenseless than these little babies. Can’t we come together and say we are going to stand with little babies that feel pain, that survive outside the womb? Ones that don’t have lobbyists and money? Don’t we stand with those little babies?”

Congressman Duffey reminded us all that standing up for the little guy, the guy that can’t defend himself, is not just an American value, it’s a human value. With each year that passes more and more people are understanding that we cannot claim to support individual rights while we deny those rights to the most vulnerable among us.

Thankfully, at least sixteen states that already passed bills banning abortion after 20 weeks, including Ohio, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas.

Despite efforts by individual states to stop the murder of innocent children, America remains just one of 7 nations across the world that allows late-term abortion, according to this article. This is not a list that I wish for America to be on.

While many cheer this decision and believe it is a step in the right direction, others are concerned that making abortion illegal on the basis of pain could one day backfire. Writing at Christianity Today, Katelyn Beaty commented:

“Research may soon confirm that unborn babies can’t experience pain until much later in development. Meanwhile, abortion providers could find ways to perform ‘pain-free’ abortions. Of course, in these cases we would still vehemently oppose the abortion, because we believe it takes a life, not just a life that feels pain.”

She makes an excellent point. Is it too hard to imagine that one day the abortion industry will find a way to make abortion “pain free”? Considering this murderous industry doesn’t mind killing unborn children it really doesn’t stretch the imagination too far. What if abortion was made illegal on the basis of the taking of a human life? Our arguments would be less nuanced and firmly imbedded in a unifying principle: all humans are valuable.

For now, I’m thankful that this bill is progressing in Congress. It shows a continued emphasis on one of the most important issues of our time. If we can’t, as a culture, demand that all human life be respected and defended, what certainty can there be for individual rights? So my hope is that despite the objections of Planned Parenthood and a few other groups advocating for abortion, Congress will side with truth, life, and the majority of Americans that recognize our need to defend the unborn.