The House approved legislation Tuesday that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the most sweeping abortion restriction to pass any chamber of Congress in a decade. The vote was 228-196.
While the measure is unlikely to become law — it faces opposition in the Senate and a White House veto threat — it could reverberate politically over the next year and a half, as both Republicans and Democrats appeal to voters in this year's special elections and the 2014 midterms.
The vote was mostly along party lines, with just seven Republicans voting with Democrats against it and seven Democrats voting with Republicans in its favor.