The majority of debate between pro-lifers and abortion advocates has centered around the 20-week abortion ban that failed in the Senate Monday. Another important bill, however, recently passed the House and would prevent babies who’ve been born after botched abortions from being murdered shortly thereafter.
The U.S. House approved the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in January, and it requires health care practitioners to give the same care to a child born alive after a botched abortion as they would provide to any other child birthed at the same gestational age. They must also ensure that babies born after botched abortions are immediately admitted to a hospital.
Any health care individual who violates the provisions of the bill — H. R. 37 — will face fines and up to five years in prison. The mother of a child who is aborted after being born cannot be prosecuted under the bill. She can however, sue for damages against an individual who kills a living child who’s just been born.
“I survived my birth mother’s saline infusion abortion 40 years ago at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa,” Melissa Ohden told the Daily Signal, explaining her strong support of the bill which will protect future babies like her. She said that although the abortion doctor demanded that the nurse leave her there to die, the on-duty nurse made the decision to rush Ohden to the NICU where her life was saved.
“Planned Parenthood likes to say Born Alive legislation is anti-abortion. In reality, it doesn’t even address abortion and, instead, focuses on halting infanticide,” March for Life VP of Government Affairs, Tom McClusky, told The Daily Caller News Foundation Friday. “If Democrats in either chamber ever want to regain the majority they first will have to separate themselves from their pro-death comrades such as Planned Parenthood, who insist they buck the consensus and vote for infanticide,” McClusky added.
Nevada’s Democratic representatives, Dina Titus, Jacky Rosen and Ruben Kihuen, all voted against the bill but did not offer an explanation for their votes. None of the representatives responded to TheDCNF’s request for comment.
The bill comes after a 2016 congressional investigation found evidence and continues to investigate clinics illegally performing partial-birth abortions and post-birth abortions, as well as the illegal sale of body parts for profit. The investigation included testimony from an employee who also posited that an abortionist would perform roughly 40 abortions on unborn babies past 20 weeks gestation during a normal week according to the Las-Vegas Review Journal.
Abortion methods included smashing unborn baby’s necks with forceps, cutting the neck with scissors, twisting the head until snaps, crushing the “soft spot” on the baby’s skull, or pushing on the infant’s abdomen or throat until it dies, the Review Journal reports.
The bill follows the activities of abortionists like Kermit Gosnell, who was sentenced to life in prison after authorities discovered that he’d been aborting babies after they’d been born. Gosnell, who operated the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia starting in 1979, wasn’t investigated until February 2010 when the FBI and the Pennsylvania Department of Health raided his clinic on drug charges. His license was suspended shortly thereafter and his trial began in March 2013 according to the Washington Post.
Gosnell aborted babies after the legal limit of 24 weeks gestation in what became known as the “House of Horrors.” He was also responsible for the death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar who died of a drug overdose during her abortion. The jury found Gosnell guilty on three of four charges of murder of babies born in his clinic as well as guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act will head next to the Senate for a vote before it can become law, and will ensure that no more doctors like Gosnell will be able to fly under the radar while committing egregious acts against newborn babies.
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