Sens. Ben Sasse and Dick Durbin got into a 20-minute argument on the Senate floor after Durbin objected to an anti-infanticide bill that Sasse proposed.
The clash began Tuesday with Durbin referring to Sasse’s legislation, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, as an “abortion” bill. The Illinois Democrat’s speech triggered a series of back-and-forth objections between him and Sasse, including the Nebraska Republican accusing him of ignoring infanticide.
“These are about babies that are born that are outside their mother,” Sasse said. “And what’s actually happening is the senior senator from Illinois is wanting to obscure the debate because he wants to use euphemisms about choice.”
He further accused Durbin of attempting to aide his Democratic colleagues’ attempts to “filibuster an anti-infanticide bill.”
“You can’t defend the indefensible,” Sasse said, nearly yelling at Durbin while pointing at him. “We are talking about killing babies that are born.”
Durbin responded by saying that infanticide “should be a crime” and arguing that it already is. The clash ended with Sasse acknowledging that it is illegal to “take a pillow and smother a newborn baby to death,” but he added that his bill deals with passive infanticide in which doctors could withhold medical care from infants.
The confrontation between the two senators came as the Senate is set to vote on the bill next week.
President Trump touted born-alive legislation last year, saying Democrats “don’t mind executing babes 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,” the president tweeted.
….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.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2019
UPDATE: The Born Alive legislation was defeated in the Senate on a nearly party-line vote of 56-41. Three Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin, Doug Jones, and Bob Casey, voted in favor of the legislation.
