Catholic bishops urged senators on Friday to support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill that will be placed to a vote next week.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, wrote in an open letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that the bill is necessary to hold abortion doctors “accountable” for denying care to children who survive abortion procedures.
A 2002 version of the legislation provides protection to any infant born with heartbeat, respiration, or voluntary movements. The updated version, introduced by Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, will require abortion doctors to provide that same care to babies who survive attempted abortions.
Naumann wrote that the “urgency” has “increased” for the passage of the act, especially as states such as New York and Illinois have removed protections for babies who survive abortions. In January 2019, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam stirred a debate over born-alive protections when he seemingly endorsed infanticide on a radio show.
“We have the evidence of both medical personnel and survivors of abortion attempts who have testified to babies being wrapped in blankets and set aside to die or babies being suffocated in plastic bags,” Naumann wrote.
Naumann concluded his letter by saying that although the act does not protect unborn babies, it prevents the extension of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade from affecting children who have been born.
“Until the Court’s own thinking changes or a constitutional amendment can be passed, no child in the womb will have meaningful legal protection,” Naumann wrote. “Our immediate task, then, is to ensure that the lethal mentality of Roe does not claim new victims — vulnerable human beings struggling for their lives outside the womb.”
The Sasse legislation failed to advance in the Senate last February in a 53-44 vote. Three Democrats, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Doug Jones of Alabama, joined Republicans in favor.
At the time, President Trump criticized Democrats for failing to join Republicans in passing the act.
“Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children,” he tweeted. “The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth. This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress. If there is one thing we should all agree on, it’s protecting the lives of innocent babies.”
