'''Partial birth abortion''', also known by the medical term "Intact dilation and extraction", is a late-term [[Abortion|abortive procedure]] in which all of a fetus (except for the head) is removed from the womb through the [[cervix]] (the same pathway through which birth occurs; hence the name), and is then killed. The procedure is a relatively uncommon one, and is only used when a complication develops that threatens the mother. but due to its grisly nature, has become an important battleground within the greater [[abortion controversy]]. <ref>http://www.abortioninfo.net/facts/pba.shtml</ref>
[[United States Congress|Congress]] passed laws to ban the procedure in 1996 and 1997, but the bill was [[veto|vetoed]] by [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]]<ref>http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/partbirthabortion.html</ref> and Congress was just short of the votes necessary to override it. The United States Congress enacted the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act <ref>http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/abortion/2003s3.html</ref> in 2003 and [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] signed it into law.