A legislative proposal to place new limits on abortion in Pennsylvania was in limbo Monday after Republicans that control the chamber pulled it from a final vote amid a veto warning from the Democratic governor.
The measure would ban elective abortions after 20 weeks, compared with 24 weeks in current law, and outlaw procedures that abort fetuses by removing body parts. The legislation had been on a fast track since it was introduced a little over a week ago.
The delay was a significant change from last week, when Republicans, helped by a handful of Democrats, were easily able to assemble enough votes to position the measure for the final House vote.
The bill's ban on the dilation and evacuation procedure, termed "dismemberment abortions" in the legislation's text, would not apply if needed to save the mother's life or prevent her from suffering the impairment of a major bodily function.
Sari Stevens with Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania said the proposal would be the nation's most restrictive abortion law because it combines two elements passed by other states. The change to 20 weeks would add Pennsylvania to about a dozen states with that limit; its ban on procedures that rely on removing body parts has been passed in Oklahoma and Kansas, but those laws were enjoined by the courts.