On Thursday evening, Feb. 4, the U.S. Senate rejected a measure requiring care for babies who survive abortion attempts. As part of consideration of a budget resolution, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) tried to insert an amendment based on his Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. The legislation requires that babies born alive during botched abortions receive the same standard of care that other newborns of the same gestational age would.
Sasse’s amendment failed to receive the necessary 60 votes to be included in the budget resolution, receiving 52 votes in favor and 48 votes against.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bob Casey (D-Penn.) were the only two Democrats who joined Senate Republicans in supporting Sasse’s amendment.
Pro-life groups stated their disapproval with the amendment’s failure to pass.
“Appalled that this didn’t pass,” Democrats for Life of America tweeted. “There’s nothing Democratic about denying medical care to newborn survivors of abortion.”
“Thank you @SenSasse for introducing the amendment tonight that simply requires EQUAL medical care for infants, whether they’re born in the L&D ward of a hospital, or ‘accidentally’ in an abortion facility,” Susan B. Anthony List stated.
“Protecting newborns ought to be the easiest thing in the world,” Sasse stated after the vote. “Every baby deserves care. This isn’t about abortion, it’s about human rights.”
Senate Pro-Life Caucus chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) tweeted that denying care to abortion survivors “isn’t healthcare, this is infanticide. It’s chilling.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted, “We must restore a culture of life to our legislature.”
“Born-alive” legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate in recent years, but has never been enacted. The House passed a version of the legislation in 2018.
When Republicans were in the minority in the House in the 116th Congress, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise led a discharge petition to bring Rep. Ann Wagner’s (R-Mo.) Born-alive bill to the House Floor for consideration. The petition fell 13 signatures short of the 218 signatures necessary.
Sasse introduced the Senate version of the bill; his legislation required that, once infants surviving abortions received necessary care, that they be transported and admitted to a hospital. That bill failed in a 2019 roll call vote, 53-44….
President Trump in September issued an executive order requiring medical care for babies surviving failed abortion attempts. He directed the Health Secretary to ensure that federally-funded health care programs and activities were aware of the order to provide the care and transfer the babies to hospitals, and to investigate complaints of violations.
The above comes from a Feb. 5 story on the site of the Catholic News Agency.
Big Pro-Life realizes the Democrats are anti-life and that there’s no hope of passing any prolife legislation. But Big Pro-Life will use this completely foreseeable defeat as an opportunity to ask for millions of dollars in donations to pay the executive salaries of staffers who basically make no successful contributions to prolife efforts. Don’t give any money to Big Pro-Life. It’s a wasted donation. Give to your local pregnancy center instead. Legislative efforts are doomed to fail; wasted time and money. Act locally. Eschew Big Pro-Life.
Anonymous, Who are you calling “Big Pro-Life?”
Since you post anonymously, how do we know you’re not Big Abortion/Planned Parenthood?
And, at least two Democrat Senators did vote for this amendment. Let’s pray for the conversion of all who don’t value life.
Plus all legislative prolife efforts and victories, even in states, will become moot and superseded when the Democrats pass and Biden signs a bill that codifies Roe versus Wade into federal law.
For those who are asleep, this is clear evidence that we’re in a culture war between life and death — logic and insanity.
It’s time for those who are asleep to wake-up.
Senator Joe Manchin is a good, moral, straight-talking man. How can he stand remaining in a party that won’t oppose infanticide? Switch sides, Joe! Now, I wouldn’t pose that question to Senators Cantwell, Durban, Gillibrand, Menendez and their ilk—all Democrats posing as Catholics. To be impartial about it, why does the Republican Party suffer Senators Susan Collins and [especially] the useless Lisa Murkowski? Clearly these two lack any moral compass. Boot them out.
By this vote, our Senate has chosen to out-Herod Herod.
Holy Innocents, pray for us and stay the murderers’ hands.
So why was this law not passed during the last administration? Also, is there any data that documents that there were fewer abortions than during Mr. Obama’s administration?
Annette, Senator Sasse introduced it last Congress as well. Though the previous President promised to sign it, then, as now, the Democrats stopped it. And, it’s likely Dr. Sasse will reintroduce it in the next Congress in early 2023 (after the 2022 “mid-term” elections).
Deacon thank you for answering this. Your posts are always informative without the personal attacks that are so common here. I would still like to see comparative statistics on the numbers of pregnancy terminations over the last few years. I mean this sincerely, I cannot find any.
Annette, the latest data available is for 2017. Guttmacher Institute and CDC have tallies but they do not agree with each other on the numbers. I have not seen data comparing the years of the 2 presidencies.
Annette, The Deacon clearly answered your question.. your party blocked the bill last time around..
I am not sure that the bill was stopped in the senate. It was stopped in the House. You can go to congress.gov and find out status of any bill.
Fewer abortions during the pro-abortion & pro-infanticide Obama administration precisely because of the hard work of those who pray outside the death camps, the abortion clinics, the crisis pregnancy centers and those at the state level who work tirelessly to restrict and defund child killing. You gotta love it when the Left claims that it’s the pro-abortion Dems who are responsible for the drop in abortions. No credibility at all.
All the posters who get indignant when people here post that Democrats are evil… well, here’s proof that should convince even them. Almost every single Democrat would rather leave a baby born alive to die than pass a law that would protect that infant’s life. Pure evil. Democrats are the party of evil. You cannot be a Catholic and a Democrat. Proof positive. Supporting Democrats means supporting evil. Voting for Democrats means voting for evil. What explanation do you Democrats give for not supporting this law? How can you face Jesus after supporting a party that would do such evil as this?
They’ll face Jesus just long enough for him to tell them that they’re going to the hot place.
If only the United States Senate contained 100 Senators like Dr. Ben Sasse, be they Democrat or Republican, who demonstrate his clear thinking, correct moral instincts and courage to speak facts instead of “woke” statements indefensible on their face. As complete contrast, ever hear Senator “Patty” Murray, the former kindergarten teacher whose name suggests she’s right out of a “Peanuts” cartoon strip, style the dismemberment in vitro of a living human being as “reproductive health care”? By their euphemisms you shall know them. Even she [good “Catholic” that she is] knows, sub secreto, it’s not at all “health care” they’re out to achieve. At this level of self-deception, if the abortion [excuse me, “health care procedure”], doesn’t get rid of the inconvenience why not just kill it?
Abortion advocates insist that the unborn are not yet fully human until birth. But what excuse can they manufacture when the “fetus” fools them and LIVES post-abortion? How is his/her life, as a full-born child, not fully human? How is it of less value than a “wanted” child? These “woke” ones just play with words as if what they advocate is a game of Scrabble. They fully understand what they are doing; they’re just trying to deceive US.
God help me, I can’t help detesting them because they would rotten our deepest values.
And many of you here vote Democrat and know very well what they are all about, again the Democrat party of today is NOT the Democrat party of our parents or Grandparents, these are outright Socialists and Communists bent on destroying this country, many of you here hate Trump guts, but he warned and warned you that the Left would be coming after you and behold everyone including fellow Liberals are being cancelled, be careful what you wish for he said and now my friends Communism has arrived via Biden, Pelosi, Schummer, Tlalib, AOC, Omar, Booker, Waters and the rest of the Democrat Communists.
Romulus, you just have too much wisdom and common sense. I can’t stand it.
What is the next step for infants… all preemies born before a certain gestational date should not be revived? The slope is getting more slippery every day, made that way from the blood of all the infants aborted.
Sen. Manchin’s vote was “safe”. How would he vote if his vote was #60 to support treating a post-abortive live birth?
Pray for Senator Manchin. He said, “As a life-long Catholic, I have always been pro-life and believe that the Hyde amendment ensures federal funds are not used to perform abortions anywhere in the country.” Yet, that West Virginia Democrat is under tremendous pressure from his fellow Catholics, Mr. Biden and Mrs. Pelosi, and many others to abandon his support of the Hyde amendment as well as any opposition to abortion, even late-term abortions. Maybe Cardinal Gregory and others in the hierarchy could show support for him by including him in reception of Holy Communion, but not those politicians promoting baby killing.
Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-NY, conceded to pro-life candidate Claudia Tenney in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. Tenney lost to Brindisi just two years ago. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said: “We celebrate a record-breaking 30 pro-life women elected to the House as proof that life is winning in America.”
Susan B. Anthony List says that so they can appear relevant and continue fundraising. Pro-life is losing. Look around. Susan B. Anthony List is a huckster.
These so called: “Devout Catholics” in government aren’t doing God’s work at all. They are doing it for themselves and to keep getting those votes to keep them in office to earn this “Dirty Blood Money” that they all must be collecting to keep this killing alive.