Although the Stenberg decision momentarily stalled the legislation pending before Congress, within two years its congressional champions had introduced a new version that purportedly addressed these problems. First, they claimed to have eliminated any possibility that the ban would place an undue burden on women's ability to obtain previability abortions by including what they argued to be a more precise definition of "partial-birth" abortion (requiring, among other things, the performance of an "overt act" intended to kill the partially delivered fetus). They further said they had addressed the health issue by including in the legislation extensive congressional "findings" that "partial-birth" abortion is never necessary to preserve a woman's health, that it poses serious risks to women's health and that it lies outside the standard of medical care. The "findings," moreover, asserted a complicated legal theory explaining why the Supreme Court's recent decision did not bar Congress's efforts and why Congress's factual conclusions were superior to the courts' and entitled to judicial deference. The legislation passed both the House and Senate by overwhelming margins.
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