(2003-11-06) -- Republicans in Congress today introduced a bill to compensate abortion doctors for losses caused by the new law banning partial-birth abortions. The bill was sparked by a NY Federal Judge's order blocking implementation of the ban because of the economic impact it would have on members of the National Abortion Federation.

Under the terms of the bill, abortion providers will be 'means tested' to assess how many partial-birth abortion procedures they would have performed, and then receive $2,000 for each procedure not executed.

"We pay farmers not to grow tobacco and other crops," said an unnamed Congressional aide. "Why not pay abortionists to refrain from the harvest as well? If we don't do something to help, these abortion doctors will be out on the street, reaching into vending machine coin-return slots for money."

The law banning partial-birth abortion took eight years for Congress to pass and the President to sign, and roughly 24 hours for NY Federal Judge Richard Casey to block.