Contact: Contact Brian Hart, John Rankin, for Sam Brownback, United States Senator, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require those who perform abortions on unborn children 20 weeks after fertilization to inform the mother seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child feels pain.

"It is a scientific, medical fact that unborn children feel pain," said Brownback.  "We know that unborn children can experience pain based upon anatomical, functional, physiological and behavioral indicators that are correlated with pain in children and adults.  Mothers seeking an abortion have the right to know that their unborn children can feel pain."

The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, in addition to informing the mother seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child feels pain would also ensure that the mother, if she chooses to continue with the abortion procedure after being given the medical information, has the option of choosing anesthesia for the child, so that the unborn child's pain is less severe.

The bill, first introduced in the 109th Congress, has 27 co-sponsors.   

Brownback continued, "Today, I participated in the 34th annual March for Life, an event which reminds us that every life is worthy of protection, especially the smallest lives.  Unborn children do not have a voice, but we nonetheless must recognize that they can feel pain and should be treated with care." 

Brownback is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairs the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.