On Tuesday, the House of Representatives will vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a measure spearheaded by Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would cut off legal access to abortion services at 20 weeks after fertilization. It represents the most restrictive abortion bill to come to a vote in either chamber over the past decade. Here’s what you need to know about this attack on women’s reproductive rights — and how it fits into a broader, coordinated nationwide campaign to slowly chip away at abortion access:

It’s based on the scientifically-disputed theory that fetuses can feel pain before the third trimester of pregnancy.

So-called “fetal pain” measures are based on junk science that represents a minority position among medical professionals. Most doctors don’t believe that fetuses can feel pain until much later in pregnancy, after the point of viability (generally considered to be around 24 weeks), and scientific research has repeatedly confirmed this position. Nevertheless, abortion opponents have successfully stoked emotional outrage surrounding later-term abortion — particularly following the high-profile murder trial of illegal abortion provider Kermit Gosnell — by twisting the facts to make it appear that these abortions are always barbaric procedures.

It has sparked more controversy over Republicans’ attitudes toward rape.

The original version of Franks’ legislation did not include an exception for victims of rape or incest. Defending the lack of an exception in these cases, the Arizona congressman last week claimed that “the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.” Franks is just the latest Republican to make an offensive comment about rape victims, and his comments inspired comparisons to former Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) infamous assertion that women don’t often get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because the body “has ways of shutting that whole thing down.” Following the controversy that erupted from his statements, Franks revised the legislation at the last minute to include an exemption for survivors of rape and incest — but only if rape victims first report the sexual crime to the police, and if incest victims are minors.

Abortions after 20 weeks are already extremely rare, and the women who need them are usually in the most desperate of circumstances.

Although Franks claimed he didn’t need to legislate rape victims’ reproductive rights because the instances of pregnancies resulting from rape are “very low,” the instances of abortions after 20 weeks are actually much lower than that. Pregnancy results from rape an estimated 5 percent of the time, while abortions after 20 weeks represent just one percent of all abortions. The women who seek out this type of later abortion procedure tend to fall into one of two categories: the economically disadvantaged women who need to delay abortion until they can save up the money for it, and the women who discover serious fetal health issues only after their pregnancy has advanced. Criminalizing abortion after 20 weeks will force some women to give birth to fetuses with no brain function — or other types of fatal anomalies — and watch their children suffer outside of the womb during their short lives.

The national legislation initially started out as an abortion restriction for the women who live in Washington, DC.

Franks has repeatedly attempted to impose his anti-abortion agenda on the women living in the nation’s capitol. Because the District of Columbia does not have its own representation in Congress, lawmakers from other areas often use it as their legislative playground. Franks’ fetal pain measure failed last year, but that didn’t stop him from re-introducing it — and eventually expanding it to apply to women in every state. The Republican lawmaker said that Gosnell’s crimes compelled him to restrict abortion access not just for DC women, but for women across the entire country.

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Republican pushed a bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks through the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, sending the measure on to the full House. But not all members of the majority are cheering the move.

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) told CQ Roll Call that the plan to rush the bill through next week is a stunning distraction from more important issues.

“I’ll be very frank: I discouraged our leadership from bringing this to a vote on the floor,” he observed. “Clearly the economy is on everyone’s minds, we’re seeing very stagnant job numbers, confidence in the institution of government is eroding and now we’re going to have a debate on rape and abortion… The stupidity is simply staggering.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), made headlines after claiming during the Judiciary Committee debate that “the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”

The legislation, which is strongly endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, would criminalize abortion services after 20 weeks of pregnancy. That cut-off is based on the scientifically-disputed idea that fetuses begin to feel pain around 20 weeks — even though women have a constitutional right to abortion services until the point of viability, generally understood to occur around 24 weeks of pregnancy, under Roe v. Wade.

Banning late-term abortion services is a popular anti-choice tactic to chip away at reproductive choice and narrow the window during which women can access legal abortion services. But 20-week bans have been met with legal challenges. Just last month, an appeals court struck down a 20-week abortion ban in Arizona, and similar measures have been blocked in Idaho and Georgia.

The bill is likely to pass the House, since anti-abortion Republicans hold the majority, but is considered doomed in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

Despite Republican strategists’ efforts to keep GOP politicians from making insensitive comments about rape victims, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) channeled former Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) infamous “legitimate rape” comment during a committee hearing on Wednesday. Defending his proposal to ban all abortions after 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape and incest, Franks claimed, “The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”

As the Washington Post reports, Franks went on to nonsensically argue, “But when you make that exception [allowing rape victims to get abortions], there’s usually a requirement to report the rape within 48 hours. And in this case that’s impossible because this is in the sixth month of gestation. And that’s what completely negates and vitiates the purpose of such an amendment.”

Franks is the latest male Republican lawmaker to opine on the validity of rape victims’ needs. In 2012, several GOP candidates lost the election after letting slip their ignorant and offensive beliefs about rape victims and what rights they deserve. Akin set off a media firestorm when he claimed that a woman could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because her body “has ways of shutting that whole thing down.” Franks stood by Akin at the time, declaring, “I definitely believe that he should still be a member of Congress.” Soon after, Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock told rape victims to embrace pregnancy as “a gift from God.”

These claims quickly collapse under cursory scientific scrutiny. By claiming rape-related pregnancies are “rare,” Franks is dismissing an estimated 32,101 women who get pregnant from rape per year. One study found that about 32.4 percent of victims did not find out they were pregnant until their second trimester — beyond the strict 20 week limit Franks is seeking to impose on American women seeking abortions. Half of those victims chose to undergo an abortion rather than keep the fetus or put it up for adoption. Some research suggests that rape victims are actually more likely to get pregnant, putting the number of women who became pregnant from rape in one year around 83,000.

Despite the fact that legislation intended to further restrict women’s reproductive access is virtually dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, abortion opponents in the House are pressing on anyway. According to CQ Roll Call, the House is on track to consider a 20-week abortion ban next week.

The legislation, spearheaded by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and strongly endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, would criminalize abortion services after 20 weeks of pregnancy. That cut-off is based on the scientifically-disputed notion that fetuses begin to feel pain around 20 weeks — even though women have a constitutional right to abortion services until the point of viability, generally understood to occur around 24 weeks of pregnancy, under Roe v. Wade.

The bill is likely to pass the House, since anti-abortion Republicans hold the majority. But Democrats in the Senate are frustrated about being forced to waste their time on a doomed vote when it comes up in their chamber. The last time a 20-week abortion ban came before Congress, even moderate Republicans complained that they would rather focus their time on other priorities, like creating jobs. This year, lawmakers could spend their efforts working to restore the devastating sequester cuts instead of holding largely symbolic votes on abortion.

Franks has repeatedly attempted to impose his anti-abortion agenda on the women who live in the nation’s capital. His 20-week ban initially applied only to Washington, DC, but he recently decided to broaden it to restrict reproductive rights nationwide. In a statement announcing his amendment to the abortion bill, the Arizona congressman explained that the horrific crimes of illegal abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell inspired him to expand the scope of his measure. “The trial of Kermit Gosnell exposed late abortions for what they really are: relocated infanticide,” Franks wrote. “I pray we use this as a ‘teachable moment,’ in the words of President Obama, and can agree that, at the very least, we are better than dismembering babies who can feel every excruciating moment.”

Other anti-abortion lawmakers have also attempted to leverage the outrage surrounding Gosnell’s high-profile murder trial to push for restricting abortion rights, twisting the facts to make it appear as if all abortion doctors are guilty of similar crimes. But eliminating access to late-term abortion services isn’t necessarily the best way to keep women safe; in fact, that move could actually force more desperate women to resort to illegal, dangerous providers like Gosnell when they don’t have any other options left.

Banning late-term abortion services is a popular anti-choice tactic to chip away at Roe v. Wade and narrow the window during which women can access legal abortion services. But 20-week bans haven’t been able to hold up in court. Just last month, an appeals court struck down a 20-week abortion ban in Arizona, and similar measures have been blocked in Idaho and Georgia.

On Wednesday, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) held an anti-abortion press conference for the bill he intends to reintroduce that restricts women’s abortion rights nationwide. A direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, Franks’ bill bans abortions after 20 weeks, before a fetus even reaches the point of viability. Just this week, an appeals court stuck down a 20-week abortion ban enacted by Franks’ home state of Arizona.

The lawmakers slated to speak today included nine House Republicans in addition to Franks — Republicans Chris Smith (NJ), Joe Pitts (PA), John Fleming (LA), Randy Weber (TX), Steve King (IA), Steve Daines (MT), Joe Wilson (SC), and Louie Gohmert (TX). Michele Bachmann (MN) was the only woman member of Congress listed for the event. Pictured above on the right is Susan B. Anthony List‘s Marilyn Musgrave and another non-member of Congress. Republicans have a history of excluding women from these conversations, like inviting an all-male panel to discuss limiting women’s access to birth control.

Capitalizing on the recent case of an illegal Philadelphia-area abortion doctor being convicted of murder, Franks recently expanded the scope of the bill beyond limiting DC women’s rights to women nationwide. Ironically, the case Franks cited actually proves the need to expand women’s access to safe abortion services.

Not content with attempting to impose his anti-abortion agenda upon the women who live in the nation’s capital, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) now intends to push for a nationwide bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks. Franks, who invoked the illegal abortion provider Kermit Gosnell to justify his decision to re-introduce a 20-week abortion ban in DC, now says that Gosnell’s crimes have compelled him to amend his bill so it applies to women across the country.

The Arizona congressmember announced his decision to expand his bill on Friday. In a statement, Franks compared Gosnell — who has been convicted of killing of three infants that were born alive following botched illegal, unsanitary abortion procedures — to all late-term abortion procedures. “Had Kermit Gosnell dismembered these babies before they had traveled down the birth canal only moments earlier, he would have, in many places nationwide, been performing an entirely legal procedure,” Franks said.

However, that’s a gross mischaracterization of the state of legal abortion services throughout the country. Abortion opponents have repeatedly attempted to twist the facts surrounding Gosnell’s high-profile murder trial to make it appear as if his crimes are rampant throughout legal abortion clinics. But that’s simply not the case. The Philadelphia-area abortion doctor was guilty of much more than simply breaking Pennsylvania’s law that criminalizes abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy; he was also able to offer discounted prices for his services because he didn’t employ medical professionals or adhere to safety standards. Gosnell’s “house of horrors” isn’t analogous to the way that legal, sanitary late-term abortion clinics provide care to the women who need it.

Furthermore, it’s misleading to pretend that Franks’ quest to cut off legal abortion care at just 20 weeks represents a push to ban late-term abortions. In fact, 20-week abortion bans are a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade‘s guarantee of legal abortion rights until the point of viability, which is generally accepted to occur around 24 weeks of pregnancy. That’s why, after a handful of states recently enacted 20-week bans, several of them landed in court.

DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) has fought against Franks’ 20-week abortion ban every time he’s proposed it. She maintains that imposing abortion bans on the District of Columbia is a “stealth way” for abortion opponents to discreetly challenge Roe, since DC doesn’t have any representation in Congress. Now that the bill will apply to the rest of the nation, she remains committed to working to defeat it. “With the help of women nationwide, we defeated the D.C. abortion ban bill on the House floor last Congress. Now that the Franks bill will expressly target all U.S. women, we can expect an even stronger national response to this attack on women’s health,” Holmes Norton said in a statement.

Ironically, pushing to restrict women’s access to abortion isn’t actually an effective policy solution to prevent future Kermit Gosnells. If Franks and his anti-choice colleagues wanted to ensure that desperate women in other states don’t have to resort to illegal providers like Gosnell, they should actually be working to make abortion services more affordable and accessible to low-income women.

Republican Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) has reintroduced a measure to criminalize abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the junk science that fetuses can feel pain after that point. The Arizona lawmaker has been particularly focused on legislating DC women’s reproductive rights, despite the fact that he does not actually represent them in Congress. He pushed the same legislation last year, although it ended up failing to advance.

Banning late-term abortion services is a popular anti-choice tactic that is currently advancing in states across the country. It’s a successful strategy partly because abortion opponents can exploit gruesome cases — such as the murder trial of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortion doctor who is accused of performing horrific, illegal late-term abortion services for vulnerable women — to play on Americans’ emotions. That’s exactly what Franks is doing this time around. He claims that forcing a 20-week ban on the nation’s capital city will help keep attention on the Gosnell case.

Abortion opponents claim that late-term abortions prove that abortion procedures are always violent and immoral. In reality, however, these type of much later abortions are incredibly rare, and the women who seek them out are typically in desperate circumstances. Women who may need an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy tend to fall into one of two categories: the economically disadvantaged women who need to delay abortion until they can save up the money for it, and the women who discover serious fetal health issues only after their pregnancy has advanced. 20-week abortion bans don’t actually help put an end to the types of illegal procedures that Gosnell performed; in fact, they simply serve to cut off reproductive health options for these kinds of vulnerable women.

Nonetheless, because the women who live in the District of Columbia don’t have any representation in Congress, their reproductive rights are often left to the whim of Republican lawmakers whom they didn’t actually elect. In addition to Franks, other Republicans often attempt to use DC’s budget negotiations — which currently have to be approved by Congress, since DC doesn’t have the autonomy to appropriate its own funds — to attach anti-abortion riders. Congress has repeatedly prevented DC from using its Medicaid funding from covering low-income women’s abortion services.

Last week, DC held a special election that included a referendum for local budget autonomy, which would prevent Congress from banning its Medicaid coverage of abortion in the future. Unfortunately, budget autonomy won’t prevent lawmakers like Franks from pushing for other types of abortion bans for the District’s residents.

What could legal abortion access for women who live in the District of Columbia, the high-profile trial of a Philadelphia-area abortion doctor, and a Congressman from Arizona all have in common?

Logically, not much at all. But Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) wants to connect the dots anyway. The Republican politician is planning to revive his previous efforts to legislate abortion care in the nation’s capital city — pushing to outlaw abortion services in DC after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the scientifically disputed notion that fetuses can feel pain after that point — because he believes “it would keep attention on the Gosnell case.”

Last week, the right-wing media successfully stoked outrage over the ongoing criminal case against Kermit Gosnell, who allegedly performed incredibly late-term, illegal abortions for economically disadvantaged women in Philadelphia. Gosnell’s story exploded into the mainstream media just recently, but this isn’t the first time that abortion opponents have attempted to leverage it to advance their agenda. In 2011, anti-abortion lobbyists invoked Gosnell to pressure the Pennsylvania legislature to approve unnecessary new restrictions for abortion clinics, which ultimately forced nine of the state’s 22 abortion providers to close their doors.

Over-regulating abortion clinics is a popular anti-choice tactic that is currently advancing in at least seven states across the country. But Franks isn’t necessary interested in taking that route. “Sanitizing the clinic is not going to change the suffering and agony of what children go through,” he explained to the Hill. The Arizona lawmaker said that he and his colleagues are actually focused on ending legal abortion services altogether.

As a small step toward that ultimate goal, Franks is hoping to use the Gosnell trial to push a 20-week “fetal pain” ban for DC residents, which failed in the House last year. Franks’ previous efforts to restrict abortion access for people who aren’t in his own district have angered DC residents, who stormed his office last May to protest his overreach. Abortion access is just one of many ways that Republicans often attempt to legislate the Washington, DC area that they do not represent.

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