WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- President Bush signed a bill Wednesday banning a controversial abortion technique sought by conservatives for years.
The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which makes it a crime for doctors to perform what is also called intact dilation and extraction, was approved last month by the Senate, 64-34, and the House, 281-142.
"The best case against partial birth abortion is a simple description of what happens and to whom it happens," Bush said at the signing ceremony. "It involves the partial delivery of a live boy or girl, and a sudden, violent end of that life."
The measure, similar to one twice vetoed by former President Bill Clinton, enjoyed bipartisan support.
"I'm about 99 percent pro-choice," said Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who nevertheless voted in favor of the bill. Polls show most Americans support the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion, but there is little support for the procedure the new law prohibits, the New York Times said.
"For years, a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth, while the law looked the other way," said Bush. "As Doctor C. Everett Koop, the pediatrician and former Surgeon General has pointed out, the majority of partial birth abortions are not required by medical emergency."
