Democratic Senators won’t support ‘born alive’ bill to the infanticide that Gov Ralph Northam described
Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island did not mince words as he expressed his horror after Democrat U.S. senators voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act, designed to protect children born alive during botched abortions from being left to die. Only three Democrats supported the measure.
“Eternal shame on Senators Reed and Whitehouse of R.I. for opposing this bill which would protect infants already born. Their vote has nothing to do with promoting women’s health or ‘reproductive freedom,’” said Bishop Tobin. “Their stance is thoughtless, cruel and indefensible.”
photo Pawel Loj
All prominent Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls in the Senate voted against the measure, including Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
The final vote was 53-44 to end Democratic delaying tactics — seven votes short of the 60 needed.
Three Democrats joined Republicans to support the bill — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Doug Jones or Alabama. Three Republicans did not vote, apparently because of scheduling issues and plane flight delays — including Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
President Trump tweeted late Monday that “This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress.”
“Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children,” Trump wrote. “The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. spoke to Fox News’ “The Story” after the vote, claiming that he was “surprised” at each vote against the bill, and charged that opponents had lied “constantly” with “blatant nonsense” about the legislation — specifically, by claiming the bill “would end abortion” entirely.
“This is about the most simple thing you can say, which is that a baby is a baby, and they have dignity and worth,” Sasse said. “And it’s not because they’re powerful. It’s because they’re babies. Today is a sad day in the United States Senate.”
Sasse added, “This shouldn’t be about politics. … This should be about having heart.”
Opponents, noting the rarity of such births and citing laws already making it a crime to kill newborn babies, said the bill was unnecessary, but Gov. Ralph Northam’s recent remarks in Virginia spurred this very move.
“When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of, obviously, the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician, by the way,” Northam said. “And, it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
Northam continued: “So, in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. So, I think this was really blown out of proportion.”
photo/ Craig via wikimedia commons
