On Thursday, the House of Representatives will consider the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), a bill to ban abortions based on the gender of the unborn child.  A two-thirds majority vote is required for passage.

Today, the debate today was opened by pro-life Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) who had introduced the bill. In his remarks to the House of Representatives, he said that sex-selection abortion was a war against both unborn baby girls and women, who have been coerced to abort their daughters.

Franks said that studies have shown that in many cultures that prize male offspring, the number of births of baby boys compared with girls is skewed in favor of boys far beyond the ratio that would occur naturally for third births and beyond. He said the only plausible explanation for this is abortion of baby girls — and that this is happening particularly but not exclusively among certain Asian immigrant groups in the U.S.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) was the main speaker opposing PRENDA. He said the law was just a ploy to “chip away” at a woman’s right to get medical care.

Franks noted that studies have shown that 86% of Americans support PRENDA legislation, backing up his position that “As Americans, all of us know in our hearts that aborting a little baby because  . . . she is a little girl instead of a little boy is fundamentally wrong, and represents a betrayal of the precious truth that all human beings are created equal.”

He reminded everyone that in 2007, the U.S. spearheaded a United Nations resolution against abortion based on the gender of the fetus.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom all have laws banning sex selection abortions.

Please ask your representative to vote FOR this bill:

Eliot Engel  (17 CD)   Nita Lowey  (18 CD)  Nan Hayworth (19 CD)