When asked whether he favored a new federal law forbidding the execution of pregnant women, Vice President Al Gore asked to think over the difficult question. The next day, he clarified his position: "The principle of a woman's right to choose governs in that case," meaning that a woman could refuse a delay of execution offered by the state, even though she forfeited her right to choose whether she herself lived or died. Faced with the same difficult question, the House of Representatives voted to exempt pregnant women from the death penalty, 417-0.

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