As the Senate prepares to consider a GOP measure to outlaw a specific abortion procedure, Sen. Rick Santorum is urging his colleagues to "open your hearts to these babies" and pass the bill.
The White House fanned the debate on Tuesday when it said President Clinton might support a Democratic effort to restrict late-term abortions."I would hope that it would shock the consciousness of every member of this Senate that we would allow human life to be treated in such a deplorable fashion, to be manhandled and destroyed as we wouldn't even allow a puppy dog to be destroyed," Santorum, R-Pa., said Tuesday evening in the Senate.
"Open your heart to these babies. Don't let this kind of barbarism continue," he said. "Stop the murder. Stop the infanticide."
Wednesday, the Senate was to begin debating the bill, sponsored by Santorum, that would ban - except when the mother's life is threatened - one type of late-term procedure that abortion foes call "partial-birth" abortion.
It involves the partial extraction of a fetus through the birth canal by its feet, cutting an incision in the barely visible skull base and then draining the contents so the head will pass through the birth canal.
Clinton has threatened to veto the bill unless it makes exceptions to protect women's health. Santorum and other sponsors, meanwhile, acknowledge being short of the votes necessary to overturn the veto. Many lawmakers remain undecided about how to vote on either measure.
The House passed the bill by a veto-proof majority in March.
The White House said Tuesday that Clinton might support an alternative being drafted by Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
Critics of the GOP measure say it is unconstitutional, since the Supreme Court already has said states must make exceptions for health reasons when imposing restrictions on late-term abortions.