February 18th, 2005. Partial Birth Abortion Ban Fails to Pass. Bush says the fight to Protect Life Continues:
The Partial Birth Abortion ban, proposed by Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania failed to get support after anti abortion politicians fought for over two weeks to get the legislation passed in both houses of Congress. The legislation was declared dead on the morning of February 18th. Speaker Pelosi said that "Over the last few weeks, Congressional Democrats have been fighting hard to protect a woman's right to choose. Today I can say that our efforts have paid off and I pledge to the American people that Congressional Democrats will continue to fight hard against the efforts of this President and Congressional Republicans to roll back Women's rights." Later that day, President Bush issued a statement saying that "The defeat of this legislation was sad for all who value the life of the unborn. Despite the failure to pass this bill, the fight for the sanctity of life continues and this Administration will continue to stand on the side of life." The President, despite having a Democratic Controlled Congress, hoped for a quick legislative victory at the start of his second term, just like the one he got in the form of the 2001 Tax Cut that was passed early in his first term, believing that moderate and conservative Democrats would side with the Republicans on this issue. With the failure of this bill, the Administration now knew that passing the next piece of their agenda, the Second round of Tax Cuts, was going to be an uphill battle, but one that they were none the less, willing to fight.
