Last week, after Democratic Virginia Del. Kathy Tran introduced a bill that would allow for abortions to be performed even when the mother is dilating, the Washington Post reported that Democratic lawmakers were distancing themselves from the ultra-pro-abortion legislation.
I beg to differ.
Democrats were by no means tiptoeing away from the bill championed by Tran and embattled Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, the latter of whom also seemingly endorsed post-birth abortion.
We know this because on Monday, Democrats blocked Sen. Ben Sasse’s, R-Neb., “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” which would mandate that babies who survive attempted abortions must receive medical care. With that vote, the Post’s cloyingly friendly spin on the Tran affair fell apart entirely.
By blocking Sasse’s bill, Senate Democrats showed they don’t disagree with the content of Tran’s proposed legislation. They obviously don’t mind that it endorses a practice that a large majority of Americans strongly oppose. If anything, Democrats disagree only on the strategy for promoting legal abortion until the last second of pregnancy.
Tran’s and Northam’s offense was that they said the quiet part out loud, much to the chagrin of Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups that dictate the Democratic Party’s position on abortion.
Sasse’s bill mandates that “If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws,” and that “Any infant born alive after an abortion or within a hospital, clinic, or other facility has the same claim to the protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or for any person who comes to a hospital, clinic, or other facility for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a patient within its care.”
The bill also states, “Whoever intentionally performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive … [shall be punished] for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.” And although the bill provides for penalties for abortionists who knowingly fail to comply with the proposed legislation, it is also careful to exempt mothers from prosecution.
On Tuesday, Sasse sought to have his bill passed by unanimous consent, meaning it’d fail on a single “no” vote.
“There are two sides of the debate on the floor tonight. You are either for babies or you are defending infanticide,” the Republican senator said. “That is actually what the legislation is before us. Please don’t block this legislation. Please don’t let Gov. Northam define you. Don’t let an extremist pro-abortion lobby and pledge hold you hostage. Please don’t protect infanticide.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was having none of it, and she moved quickly to quash her colleague’s request.
“[W]e have laws against infanticide in this country,” the Democrat said Monday from the floor of the U.S. Senate. “This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered, and, therefore, I object.”
And that was it. That was all Democratic senators had to say about the bill. Republican senators will likely push for a roll-call vote later this year, according to National Review’s Alexandra DeSanctis. Still, it’s amazing that Sasse’s plea for what is literally a bill to save already-born babies’ lives was met with a simple and perfunctory “nope” from the same party that claims critics of its knee-jerk gun control proposals don’t care about saving children.
If Democrats are really trying to “distance” themselves from Tran’s bill, as the Post laughably claimed last week, they sure have a funny way of showing it.
