Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) has been pushing, tirelessly, for weeks to force a vote on his bill, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S.130). The companion legislation in the House has been introduced by Rep. Ann Wagnor (R-MO).
The legislation is common sense. It does not ban abortion. It merely says that if a baby survives an abortion procedure, and is born-alive, Doctors and Nurses MUST provide life-saving and resuscitative care to the infant. They cannot kill the baby or step aside and watch him or her die from exposure.
When Sen. Sasse brought his bill to the floor of the Senate, he asked for "unanimous consent" to pass it. Under Congressional rules, any bill can go directly to a floor vote if it has unanimous consent from the legislators. But if even one Senator rises to oppose it, then it must go through the lengthy committee process.
On February 4, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) rose and declared that she objected to the legislation outlawing post-birth abortions and infanticide. She claimed that the bill 'was not necessary' and would violate a woman's right to choose.
This wasn't a new development. Every time Republicans have tried to introduce pro-life bills, Democrats have objected. The GOP has rarely objected. You see, Republican leadership loves to introduce pro-life bills but rarely fight to make sure they actually get a vote. When Democrats block the unanimous consent motion, the GOP gets to tell voters that they 'tried' and then abandon the issue all together.
But over the past two and a half weeks, Senator Sasse has been pushing his bill through the committee process and refusing to allow GOP apathy to block legislation that would truly save babies' lives.
Thanks to his hard work, the full vote is MONDAY and the Senator needs your help to push it across the finish line!
There should be absolutely NO debate over this. Babies that are born-alive after botched abortion procedures deserve to be protected. They are American citizens, for goodness' sake.
In the decade spanning 2003-2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 143 babies died after being born alive from botched abortion procedures. Though, the CDC warns that these numbers are certainly low. When babies are left to die after botched abortions, doctors rarely report the statistic to the Federal government. They simply report the abortion as being successful.
In Canada, where reporting requirements are stricter, a study found that between 2013-2018, there were 766 "late-term live birth abortions." These are babies that are born alive and killed during or after delivery. I am citing Canadian statistics because American doctors perform roughly three times as many abortions every year as Canadian doctors. The number of born-alive abortion survivors in the US is likely in the thousands.
But even if it was only one baby saved a year, it would be worth it. That's the Democrats' rallying cry behind gun control, isn't it? "If we can save one life..."
This law simply says that if a baby is born alive, doctors and nurses can't kill or neglect the child. It outlaws post-abortion infanticide.
Senator Sasse is fighting for the bill to pass. But he is also fighting to put Republicans AND Democrats on record on the issue of infanticide. He is trying to shame members of both parties into protecting these babies and on Monday, the bill will finally get a vote!
My wife and I welcomed a baby boy in January of 2018. When I saw my son for the first time, I couldn't stop smiling. He was the most beautiful baby in the world. But he didn't cry. He didn't make a sound. Nurses noticed that he was starting to turn blue, so they brought him over to a table and began working on him under a heat lamp.
They put a hat on his head to keep him warm, rubbed his skin to increase circulation, and tried to remove fluid from his mouth and nose. After what seemed like an eternity, my wife and I heard our baby cry for the first time. All of this happened in about 60 seconds. That was the difference that helped my beautiful and healthy baby boy survive.
Why am I telling you such a personal story? I am telling you because this is what Democrats are fighting against. When a baby is born alive after a botched abortion, the Left doesn't believe that nurses and doctors should be required to keep him or her alive.
Hundreds of babies are born alive after abortion procedures in the US every year. They deserve to receive the same care my son received. They deserve the same rights afforded to every other American citizen in this country.
Mahatma Ghandi once said that "the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members."
There is no more-vulnerable population than newborns born-alive after failed abortion attempts. Not only are they vulnerable to the elements and fighting to survive, but these newborns are literally surrounded by doctors and nurses that, minutes earlier, had tried to kill them.
When these babies are born into this world, there isn't a single person in that room that wants them to survive. There is not a single person in that room that even sees them as a human person, with dignity.
These babies are born without a friend in the world. Will you fight to protect them?
Until all babies are saved,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
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