| Shorttitle: | Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995 |
| Introducedin: | House |
| Introducedby: | Charles T. Canady (R-FL) |
| Introduceddate: | June 14, 1995 |
| Passedbody1: | House |
| Passeddate1: | November 1, 1995 |
| Passedvote1: | 288-139 |
| Passedbody2: | Senate |
| Passeddate2: | December 7, 1995 |
| Passedvote2: | 98-1 |
| Agreedbody3: | House |
| Agreeddate3: | March 27, 1996 |
| Agreedvote3: | 286-129 |
| Vetoedpresident: | Bill Clinton |
| Vetoeddate: | April 10, 1996 |
| Overriddenbody1: | House |
| Overriddendate1: | September 19, 1996 |
| Overriddenvote1: | 285-137 |
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was a bill introduced in the Congress of the United States in 1995 by Florida Representative Charles T. Canady which prohibited intact dilation and extraction, sometimes referred to as partial-birth abortion, which the bill described as "an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery". In other words, the bill sought to eliminate abortion in the third trimester. The term "partial-birth abortion," coined by the Canady, has never been recognized by the American Medical Association or the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.[1] In November 1995, the House of Representatives passed the bill. Doctors convicted under the bill would receive a fine and up to a two-year prison sentence.[2] The bill was passed by both chambers of Congress, but then vetoed by President Bill Clinton.
Opponents of the bill argued that D & X procedures only occurred in the case of severe fetal defects or when carrying the birth to term endangered the life of the mother; its advocates argued that the majority for purely elective reasons.[3] These competing arguments both had some basis in truth but came from different classifications of D & X procedures; anti-Ban activists based their numbers solely on post-viability abortions, ignoring that pre-viability abortions account for more than 90 percent of D & X procedures.[3] The use of the term "elective" by pro-Ban activists, on the other hand, completely overlooked the contextual factors such as youth, trauma, and poverty, that push women to choose D & X.[3]
The House overrode President Clinton's 1996 veto, but the Senate was several votes short of the required 2/3 requirement with a margin of 58 yeas to 40 nays.[4] The Republican-controlled Congress tried to push a similar ban in January 1997 with House Resolution 1122, but again its efforts were defeated by President Clinton's veto.[5] A similar bill was later passed in 2003 as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush.