"Unborn infants should not be subjected to the inhuman pain of later term abortion nor should women's lives and health be put at risk, so that abortionists can sell a deadly product through all nine months of pregnancy," said AULA's Dr. Charmaine Yoest.

Contact: Kristi Hamrick, Americans United for Life, 202-289-1478, press@aul.org

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Americans United for Life Action President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest called on the U.S. Senate to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the Senate, introduced by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) after winning support of the U.S. House. Sen. Graham, in a Capitol Hill news conference today is expected to announce that the bill is moving forward. Dr. Yoest said that this would be a "scored vote for a commonsense limit that protects women's health and that a majority of voters across the country support."

Dr. Yoest made the following remarks: "Limiting abortion at 5 months of pregnancy is a commonsense response to the ugly reality of later term abortions, which causes tremendous pain to fully-formed infants and exposes women to dangerous health risks. The abortion lobby denies the pain of the unborn, and refuses to be honest about what can happen to women during a risky late-term abortion procedure.

"After two months of pregnancy, a woman's chance of dying from an abortion increases 38 percent each week. At 5 months of pregnancy, a woman is 35 times more likely to die from an abortion than she was in the first trimester. It gets worse. After 21 weeks, a woman is 91 times more likely to die from an abortion than she was in the first trimester.

"It is entirely appropriate to limit abortion at 5 months of pregnancy because of the health risks to all women who are exposed to these procedures. And Americans United for Life Action calls on the Senate to include language on the health risks of abortion to women in the bill as a reason for its passage. Unborn infants should not be subjected to inhuman and painful brutality while women’s lives and health are put at risk, all so that abortionists can sell a deadly product through all nine months of pregnancy.

"Including the legislative goal of addressing the harms of abortion to women would also address issues raised by the U.S. Supreme Court. In both Gonzales v. Carhart and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court ruled that Roe v. Wade's 'essential' holding, explicitly included 'the principle that the State has legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman.' That legal reality in current pro-life Constitutional law means that including women's health interests in the law is the right way to move this legislation forward."

For more on the health risks of abortion for women, click here.

For more on AUL's model legislation to limit abortion after 5 months of pregnancy, click here.

Click here to watch a livestream of the press conference.

AUL Action is the advocacy branch of AUL, the legal architect of the pro-life movement. We are accumulating victories, building momentum, and advancing a culture of life in America. Our vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law.