The Republican-controlled House has approved a measure that would ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, which anti-choice activists believe marks the point at which a fetus can feel pain. The vote was 228 to 196, mostly on party lines. It is the harshest anti-abortion bill in a decade to come before Congress. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, sparked controversy last week when he claimed the rate of pregnancies resulting from rape is “very low.” President Obama has vowed a veto, and the Senate is unlikely to even bring it up for a vote. Federal appeals courts have recently struck down similar measures in Idaho and Arizona, although other bans remain in place in several states. In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said: “This ban shamefully plays politics with women’s health and has no place in our laws.”