Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995
Latest action. Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995 - Subjects any physician who knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to a fine or imprisonment for not more than two years or both, except where such an abortion is necessary to save the life of a mother endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury, provided that no other medical procedure would suffice. Defines: (1) "partial-birth abortion" as an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery; and (2) "physician" as a doctor of medicine or osteopathy legally authorized to practice medicine and surgery by the State in which the doctor performs such activity, or any other individual legally authorized by the State to perform abortions. Permits the father (if married to the mother at the time she receives a partial-birth abortion procedure) and (if the mother has not attained the age of 18 at the time of the abortion) the maternal grandparents to obtain, through a civil action, relief which would include money damages for all psychological and physical injuries and statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the partial-birth abortion, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate amended" stage on December 7, 1995. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
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Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on January 6, 1997: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 104th Congress (1995-96), 333 of the 6,806 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CHARLES CANADY (R-FL) introduced it on June 14, 1995, and 115 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 18 Democrats, 97 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 14, 1995, 11412 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 10840 days ago, on January 6, 1997.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 104th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1997 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseMessage on Senate action sent to the House.
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action