By Matthew Gambino • Posted June 23, 2016

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would ban dismemberment abortions and those after 20 weeks’ gestation.

The House voted 132 to 65 in approving the Pain Capable/Dismemberment Pro-Life Legislation, HB 1948, on June 21. The legislation now heads to the Senate where a similar bill, SB 888, has been introduced.

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“This vote clearly indicates that the vast majority of Pennsylvania’s representatives are committed to protecting unborn children,” said Fran Viglietta, director of social concerns for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC). “We thank them for this important vote that upholds the dignity of all human life.”

The legislation would prohibit abortions that end the life of the unborn baby by tearing off one limb at a time and which raise the risk of injury to the mother, according to the PCC. Such procedures are used in more than 1,500 abortions in Pennsylvania each year.

Because medical advancements can now reveal an unborn baby’s ability to feel pain and live outside the womb, abortions after 20 weeks are also banned. Risks to the health of the mother from late-term abortions increase significantly, according to the PCC.

See the roll call vote for how House members voted on the bill.