Black eye for Congress

Richard A. Sokerka

Congress last week failed to pass two pro-life bills to protect unborn babies who can feel pain, and babies who survive abortion attempts.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation, around the time babies in utero can feel pain.

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, the product of Sen. Ben Sasse’s (R-Neb.), would require that babies surviving a botched abortion be given the same standard of care as other infants born of the same gestational age. “Even if you are unwilling to defend unborn babies, I hope that my colleagues would at least consider joining with us in voting to protect babies that have already been born,” Sen. Sasse had said prior to the vote.

By votes of 53-44 and 56-41 on Tuesday, the respective bills failed to receive the needed 60 votes for consideration on the Senate floor. Friday, in the House of Representatives only three Democrats voted “yes” and the amendment failed by a vote of 220 to 187.

Congress did not vote with how their constituents stand on this issue. A 2019 poll found that nearly 80 percent of voters, including a majority of self-described abortion supporters, backed measures to provide life-saving care to newborns.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said, “The U.S. Senate tragically failed to advance the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and the U.S. House of Representatives shamefully followed suit. The Born-Alive bill simply and rightly provides additional protections to ensure that newborn babies who survive an abortion attempt are given the same care as any other baby and are not left to die or directly killed. Americans should be outraged that our U.S. Congress cannot pass a law to ensure that newborn babies are not vulnerable to infanticide. We will not and cannot stop pressing Congress to do the right thing and pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” “It is appalling that even one senator, let alone more than 40, voted to continue the brutal dismemberment of nearly full-grown infants, and voted against protecting babies who survive abortion. Our nation is better than this, and the majority of Americans who support these bills must make their voices heard,” the archbishop said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that “protecting the life of a newborn who survived a botched abortion should not be a partisan issue, yet it speaks volumes about how extremism has become mainstream in today’s Demo­cratic Party.”

Members of Congress who voted against these bills all have a black eye for turning away these protections for the child in the womb. It seems clear now the only way these bills will ever become law is for all elected representatives who chose to vote “no” be voted out of office.