NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US House on Thursday voted to override President Bill Clinton's veto of a bill banning partial-birth abortions, but pro-life Senators were still several votes short of a similar override.

      Clinton vetoed the bill last October, and congressional supporters of the bill delayed a crucial vote until more support could be rallied in the Senate and to make the president's veto a part of the 1998 congressional election campaign. The Senate passed the bill last year by a vote of 64-36, three votes less than the two-thirds majority needed for an override. Thursday's House override vote passed by a clear margin.

      The bill would ban partial-birth abortions -- which involves the partial delivery of the baby through the birth canal after which the abortionist pierces his skull and suctions out his brain -- except to save the life of the mother. Several states have already passed similar bans, but legal challenges have overturned some of them.