Abortion Ban

The editorial “A Gruesome Piece of Legislation; The House--Shown Bloody Photos--Votes to Outlaw a Form of Abortion” (Nov. 3) was very misleading. As the sponsor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995 in the House, I want to point out the inaccuracies concerning the debate on this legislation.

First of all, the headline implies that bloody photos were used to persuade House members to vote to outlaw a form of abortion. In reality, those in favor of the partial-birth abortion ban did not use photos in their debate. They used simple, black and white line drawings to illustrate the partial-birth abortion procedure. It is, therefore, entirely inaccurate to say, as the editorial did, that supporters of the partial-birth abortion ban “displayed photographs of partial-birth abortions in the House chamber to manipulate the emotions of Congress members.”

What the editorial failed to mention is that those who opposed the bill did show photographs of aborted fetuses to support their position.

REP. CHARLES T. CANADY

R-Florida