WASHINGTON-President Bush said he would sign a newly passed bill to end the "abhorrent practice" known as partial birth abortion.

According to The Associated Press, on Oct. 21, the Senate voted 64-34 to ban a type of abortion, generally carried out in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed. The House approved the legislation this month, and Bush has urged Congress to get it to his desk.

The new bill defines partial birth abortion as delivery of a fetus "until, in the case of a headfirst presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of the breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus."

In a statement released by the White House, President Bush said, "This is very important legislation that will end an abhorrent practice and continue to build a culture of life in America. I look forward to signing it into law."

That signature would override two previous vetoes of partial-birth abortion bills by former President Clinton, who said the bills lacked exceptions allowing the procedure if a mother's health were endangered by the fetus.

Abortion rights advocates said they will fight the decision. Talcott Camp, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the case could take two to three years to work its way through the courts. The ACLU will represent the National Abortion Federation in its lawsuit.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, (R-Tenn.), a heart physician, told the AP that "partial birth abortion is brutal, it is barbaric, it is morally offensive, and it is outside the mainstream practice of medicine."