According to MSNBC, this past Monday - the first day of the new session in Congress - Rep. Trent Franks and Rep. Marsha Blackburn reintroduced the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks on the medically-disputed theory that fetuses can feel pain at that point. The same legislation is known to have passed the House last year.

Franks is known to refer to 20-week-old fetuses as "innocent and defenseless children who can not only feel pain, but who can survive outside of the womb in most cases, and who are torturously killed without even basic anesthesia."

Whether or not this is actually the case, Think Progress reports that Republicans are anticipating that they'll have enough support to pass the ban in both chambers this year, given that the Senate is now GOP controlled.

The new Majority Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), told the audience at the National Right to Life Conference this past fall, "In a Republican Senate, under my leadership, we would have the kind of real debate on the issues that the American people want." He continued, "For six years, the president has been isolated from this growing movement. He will be forced to listen to the cause that's brought us all here this morning."

President Obama has promised to veto the bill should it reach his desk, but he won't have the support of former Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid, who refused to let the bill hit the floor there.

According to Think Progress, scientific research has repeatedly confirmed that fetuses cannot feel pain until after they are viable, which is about 24 to 28 weeks into the pregnancy. However, 20-week abortion bans have become very popular in some states, with nine states currently cutting off legal abortion access at 20 weeks.

What do you think about the possibility of a national abortion ban?