House Democrats posed an absurd claim Wednesday in opposition to the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, claiming that requiring a newborn baby to be taken to the hospital somehow “endangers” the child’s life.
U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, and Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, both made the claim on the House floor after Republican leaders brought the pro-life bill forward for debate.
“The problem with this bill is that it endangers some infants by stating that that infant must immediately be brought to the hospital,” Nadler asserted. Later, he added, “It directs and mandates certain medical care, which may not be appropriate, which maybe endanger the life of an infant in certain circumstances.”
The claim is absurd on its face, but that did not stop Schakowsky from making a similar comment.
“[This bill] requires immediately taking a struggling baby to a hospital,” she claimed. “That hospital could be hours away and could be detrimental to the life of that baby. This is nothing more than part of the effort to make abortion illegal nationally in this country. I object, and I urge a no vote.”
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Nadler on the bill to ban killing babies born alive: “The problem with this bill is that it endangers some infants [born alive] by stating that that infant must immediately be brought to the hospital.” pic.twitter.com/1XysI40udv
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 11, 2023
The bill does not ban abortions. It just makes sure that babies who survive abortions receive proper medical care. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of babies survive abortions every year in the United States, but protections for these infants are limited.
The Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would require that babies who survive abortions receive the same medical attention that would be given to any other baby born at the same gestational age. The bill also would punish doctors who allow newborns to die or intentionally kill them after a failed abortion.
U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Missouri, is the lead sponsor of the bill. She told LifeNews that her legislation provides common-sense protections for innocent children who survive procedures that were supposed to kill them.
“All children should have the right to receive lifesaving care, especially those who survive an abortion,” Wagner told LifeNews. “[It] will ensure all babies receive the essential care they need at an incredibly vulnerable moment. It pains me that this fight has to be fought at all, but medical care for babies should not be a partisan issue. Now, with Republicans in the Majority, the House will finally take action and vote to protect the fundamental right to life.”
The bill is similar to one that pro-abortion former Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked 80 times when she ran the U.S. House.
On Wednesday afternoon, the House approved the pro-life bill in a 220-210 vote.
LifeNews recently examined abortion data from seven states between 2020 and 2022 and found reports of 34 babies who were born alive in botched abortions. The numbers almost certainly are much higher; most states do not keep track of abortion survivors.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as the personal testimonies of nurses and abortion survivors themselves, also provide evidence that babies survive abortions. According to the CDC, at least 143 babies were born alive after botched abortions between 2003 and 2014 in the U.S., though there likely are more.
Research by Tessa Longbons of Charlotte Lozier Institute found that protections for babies who survive abortions are inconsistent across the United States, with fewer than half of states maintaining sufficient protections.
Reports from other countries prove that babies survive abortions, too, and legal protections for them are needed. In Canada, the Canadian Institute of Health Information recorded 766 late-term, live-birth abortions over a five-year period in 2018. And in Australia, the country’s health minister admitted that 27 babies survived abortions in the state of Western Australia between 1999 and 2016. A report out of Ireland also suggests babies are surviving abortions and being left to die there.
