Senate

Listen to “‘This is Such Extreme Depths of Depravity'” on Spreaker.

Pro-life activists are deeply upset that Democrats derailed legislation to protect babies who are delivered after attempted abortions, but they say the silver lining is that there is no doubt where Democrats now stand on infanticide.

“It’s actually immensely helpful.  It reveals with such clarity what the abortion lobby wants, which is a right to a dead child no matter what,” said Susan B. Anthony List Vice President of Communications Mallory Quigley.

On Monday, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes in favor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  The vote was 53-44.  Three Democrats voted in favor of the plan.  Three Republicans missed the vote.

In explaining their opposition to the bill sponsored by Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, Democrats cited their pro-choice commitments.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray argued that the legislation would force women to accept “care that may directly conflict with your wishes at a deeply personal, often incredibly painful moment in your life — because politicians in Washington decided their beliefs mattered more than yours.”

“Republican politicians just tried (and failed) again to score political points at the expense of women. Enough. Women and their doctors should decide what’s best for their health – not the Republican politicians just tried (and failed) again to score political points at the expense of women. Enough. Women and their doctors should decide what’s best for their health – not the @SenateGOP,” tweeted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Quigley says those arguments aren’t even relevant in this debate.

“This is not a bill about abortion.  It’s about infanticide and protecting babies that are born alive during failed abortions, completely separate entities from their moms.  What are we going to do with them?  All this bill would do is require that those infants receive the same care that we would give and expect for a preemie baby born at the same stage,” said Quigley.

Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins supported the legislation.  Quigley says Collins is strongly pro-choice and her vote proves this bill was not about abortion.

Other Democrats said the legislation was unnecessary because infanticide is already banned through the 2002 Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.  Quigley says that’s very misleading.

“The 2002 bill was really a statement about what we believe about these babies, but it didn’t require anything.  There were no legal teeth and no legal requirements,” said Quigley.

The Sasse bill allows for mothers to prosecute providers for not caring for their child once it’s born and prescribes jail time for those who refuse to attempt life-saving care.

Quigley says this should have been an easy vote on the merits and in pleasing the public.

“It’s not just the morally right position to take.  It’s very popular.  Seventy-seven percent of voters support this legislation.  Fifty-five percent strongly support it,” she said.

Quigley expects this issue to resonate loudly in the 2020 campaign now that Americans can see where Democrats stand.

“This is such extreme depths of depravity.  It’s really horrifying that we’re in a place where we have to have these conversations, but I’m thankful for the clarity, because at least having this conversation allows us to change people’s hearts and minds,” said Quigley.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Quigley respond to other objections from Democrats on the legislation, how pro-life lawmakers are working to force a vote on this in the House of Representatives, and how President Trump is taking steps to reduce taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood by as much as $60 million.

Listen to “Sasse Explains Why Dems Refuse to Ban Infanticide” on Spreaker.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse vows to press forward on a federal ban on infanticide, says opposition is rooted in the big dollars of the abortion industry, and believes many critics are convincing themselves that active killing of newborns is wrong but passively killing them is not.

Last week, the U.S. Senate failed to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act by unanimous consent.  Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray objected, saying the bill is unnecessary because infanticide is already illegal.  Later she suggested there was more to the bill than requiring care for a baby born alive after an abortion.

Sasse authored an op-ed in USA Today on Tuesday, imploring readers not to think of infanticide as a partisan issue.

“Every single public servant should be able to say it’s wrong to leave newborn babies to die. Sadly, that’s not happening,” he wrote.

In a Tuesday interview with Radio America, Sen. Sasse says he is genuinely surprised that there is any opposition to his Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

“If there’s anything the U.S. Senate ought to be able to get done 100-0, it’s something like this, stating the basic truth that babies that are born alive deserve a fighting chance at life,” said Sasse.

Sasse has been pushing he bill for two-and-a-half years but says there is much greater urgency after the New York law that repealed requirements for medical personnel to take all possible steps to care for babies that survive abortions.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was under fire on this issue before his yearbook scandal pushed the infanticide issue off the front pages.  In a live interview, Northam said babies that survive abortions should be resuscitated if that’s what the family wants and then kept comfortable while a discussion ensues – presumably about whether to continue to provide care for the newborn infant.

The Virginia abortion bill was defeated but Sasse finds Northam’s comments telling in how opponents are parsing the issue.

“I think they would draw a distinction between active and passive.  They say, ‘Well, if these babies survive an abortion, no one is proactively taking a pillow and putting it over the baby’s face and smothering them to death.  Since we have laws against murder already, that is infanticide.  And the passive tolerance of these babies being killed, that’s a different thing and we don’t need any protections for that.'”

“That logic breaks down entirely when you consider the fact that a 12-month-old baby would also die if you left her out in the elements to die by exposure.  By the way, in human history, lots of cultures have done abhorrent things like that.

“The Aztecs and the Greeks both practiced infanticide.  If they thought a baby was undesirable, if she had birth defects, they would leave them out in the cold to die.  So their argument here is that passive killing is not really that big of a problem.  Only active killing needs to be prohibited.  That’s total nonsense,” said Sasse.

Sasse says the refusal of many Democrats to stand up for babies even after they are born is more understandable when you follow the money.

“A lot of these folks are motivated by the zealotry of an abortion industry that makes lots and lots and lots of money off the status quo,” said Sasse.

Sasse says he will keep pushing his legislation in the Senate, although it could take months or even years to get a floor vote.  But he wants ever member of the Senate and the Democratically-controlled House to be on the record about where they stand on infanticide.

“Love is bigger than politics and everybody with a heart should believe that we should be able to have consensus around a common sense, pro-compassion, pro-science fact that a baby that’s born alive deserves a fighting chance,” said Sasse.

“We have a moral obligation to provide the same sort of care for those babies that would be provided to any other baby at that stage of gestation.”

Listen to the full podcast to hear Sasse explain why the celebration of late term abortion legislation in New York was a perversion of a unifying symbol and offer his full analysis of Gov. Northam.