A New Hampshire House committee struck down two bills Tuesday that would have protected babies from the violence of abortion.
The state House Judiciary Committee narrowly voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide care for babies born alive after failed abortion attempts; the vote was 9-7 to kill the bill, according to the Union Leader.
Before the vote, state Rep. Kurt Wuelper, R-Strafford urged his fellow lawmakers to pass the common-sense bill to protect babies who survive abortions.
“There should be a reasonable way to have some amount of protection for those who survive the sentence of abortion,” Wuelper said.
However, state Rep. Charlene Takesian, R-Pelham, argued against the bill, claiming that the state “should not be legislating medical procedures.”
In a narrow 9-8 vote, the committee also killed a bill that would have banned dismemberment abortions, which tear unborn babies limb from limb. In this procedure, abortion doctors use forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a living unborn baby to remove him or her from the womb in pieces.
According to the local report, pro-life legislators called the violence of dismemberment abortions horrific and compared it to partial-birth abortions, which are illegal.
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“We have the technology well within our means to do these executions in a humane way,” Wuelper said.
His efforts were thwarted by pro-abortion legislators who voted against the bill, saying that dismemberment abortion bans in two other states are being challenged in courts.
Kansas became the first state to ban gruesome dismemberment abortions in 2015, followed by Oklahoma, which banned the procedure in April. Both states face challenges to their laws.
On Jan. 22, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld a local judge’s ruling blocking the state from enforcing the ban on dismemberment abortions, LifeNews reported. District Judge Larry Hendricks said the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is suing the state, is likely to prevail in arguing that the state can’t ban the most common second trimester procedure because it places too much of a burden on women.
In an email to LifeNews.com, the state pro-life group Kansans for Life responded to the ruling.
“We are assured that the Attorney General’s office will continue to rigorously defend this law. This outrageous ruling needs to be heard by the state Supreme Court without delay,” the group said. “The law was designed to pass muster with the U.S. Supreme Court and abortion attorneys apparently recognized that fact, thus choosing to file suit in state court, seeking the creation of a state right to abortion.”
In October, abortion activists also filed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma law. Later that month, a judge blocked the law from taking effect.
The legislation is the brainchild of the National Right to Life Committee.
“Dismemberment abortion kills a baby by tearing her apart limb from limb,” said National Right to Life Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D. “Before the first trimester ends, the unborn child has a beating heart, brain waves, and every organ system in place. Dismemberment abortions occur after the baby has reached these milestones.”
Several other states are considering the legislation. In September, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced a federal version of the bill (the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act, H.R. 3515).
