A national anti-abortion group is planning on making infanticide an issue in the 2020 elections by running ads and canvassing in battleground states targeting Democratic lawmakers who voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in the Senate.
“There need to be political consequences for the extremism of the other side,” said Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that seeks to elect anti-abortion lawmakers. “Now we have people on record, including a handful of people who are running for our nation’s highest office.”
The legislation, which would have required abortion doctors to provide adequate medical care for and report on the survivors of botched abortions, came to national attention and received a Senate vote after controversial comments from Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam about abortion legislation he favored.
Democrats blocked the legislation, however, and in response, SBA List plans to add the vote to its ad and extensive ground campaign in the run-up to the 2020 election.
SBA List last election cycle campaigned in several states, focusing on battleground states, such as North Dakota, Florida, and Missouri, with Senate seats on the ballot. Over 1,100 canvassers knocked on 2.7 million doors, said Quigley, who said that the organization plans on expanding their efforts in 2020.
Anti-abortion advocates hope they can get more lawmakers on record by forcing a vote in the House. “I am working hard to bring my bill, H.R. 962, to the House floor,” said Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., who introduced the bill in the House.
Republicans have attempted to pass the bill by asking for unanimous consent each day from the floor of the House since the legislation was introduced. As various Democrats have objected to the calls for unanimous consent, Wagner, in conjunction with Republican Whip Steve Scalise, is putting forth a petition that, if signed by the majority of House members, would bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Only three House Democrats, though, have signed onto the bill.
Regardless of any vote, Quigley said she is confident it will be a top issue in 2020 with President Trump setting the tone. In his State of the Union Address earlier this month, Trump took aim at Northam over his comments on infanticide, saying Northam “would execute a baby after birth.” He tweeted Monday after the Senate Born-Alive vote that “[t]his will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress.”
