DATE=11/5/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH / ABORTION (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-309482

BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush has signed legislation into law banning one particular type of late-term abortion. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports opponents of the ban are taking steps to challenge it in court.

TEXT: The signing ceremony was a victory celebration for anti-abortion activists, who cheered as the president put pen to paper.

The new law bans a procedure they call partial birth abortion. President Bush called it an act of violence against children who are just inches from birth.

/// BUSH ACT ///

Today, at last, the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.

/// END ACT ///

But even before the president signed the bill, challenges were being filed in federal courts across the country. Mr. Bush seemed only too aware of the long legal fight that might lie ahead.

/// BUSH ACT ///

The executive branch will vigorously defend this law against any who would try to overturn it in the courts. (APPLAUSE)

/// END ACT ///

The ban was a top priority for Republicans when they assumed control of the House of Representatives in 1995. Several versions cleared the legislature only to be vetoed by former President Bill Clinton.

The bill signed into law by President Bush prohibits doctors from committing an "overt act" designed to kill a partially delivered fetus and allows no exception if the mother's health is at risk, or if the child would be born with ailments.

The president said the measure reflects the compassion and humanity of America.

/// BUSH ACT ///

By acting to prevent this practice, the elected branches of our government have affirmed a basic standard of humanity to protect the weak.

/// END ACT ///

This new law imposes the most far-reaching limits on abortion since the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that a woman has a right to end a pregnancy. Abortion rights groups fear it could be the first step in a new campaign to ban all abortions in the United States. (SIGNED)

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