WASHINGTON (AP) - A House committee is scheduled to vote on a bill that would ban abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

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The House Judiciary Committee had planned to vote on the bill last week but didn't take it up because of a crowded agenda.

The bill is expected to be sent to the House floor. The legislation is based on the disputed claim that fetuses can feel pain at a gestational age of 20 weeks or older.

The National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group, has made the bill its top priority on Capitol Hill this year.

Nine states have passed similar legislation.

Opponents call the bill an attempt to undermine a woman's right to an abortion and an intrusion upon the district's self-rule.