WASHINGTON, D.C., July 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted yet again Tuesday evening to block a vote on legislation to require medical care for babies who survive abortions, marking the 75th time they’ve done so in the current session.
Originally introduced in 2015 and proposed this year in response to controversial comments about infanticide by Virginia’s Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would require abortionists to provide medical care for such babies. Under existing law, the 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, babies who survive abortions are recognized as human beings with human rights, but how specifically to handle them isn’t defined.
Late in February, the U.S. Senate voted 53-44 in favor of the bill. Despite clearing a simple majority, the vote fell short of the 60 votes necessary for the bill to overcome the current filibuster rules and pass. All but three Senate Democrats opposed the bill, including every senator currently seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
House Democrats have repeatedly blocked efforts to bring the bill up for a vote. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) made the 75th such effort on Tuesday, only to be blocked yet again by Democrats, Faithwire reports.
“The refusal by House Democrats to allow a vote on common sense legislation that protects the life of innocent babies and their mothers is abhorrent,” Cheney declared in the aftermath.
In response to Democrat obstruction, House Republicans devised a plan they hope will eventually force a vote on the measure, by collecting 218 signatures (a simple majority) for a discharge petition. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) introduced the discharge petition in April.
They currently have 201 signatures, according to Heritage Action, including three from Democrats – Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Ben McAdams of Utah, and Collin Peterson of Minnesota. It needs seventeen more signatures to force a vote, however, all of which would have to come from Democrats.
Scalise has argued that because dozens of the current session’s new Democrat lawmakers campaigned as moderates and represent districts won by President Donald Trump in 2016, they may support the bill out of political self-interest. However, only five Democrats backed the bill in 2015, and the number of pro-life House Democrats has decreased since then.
In the meantime, hammering the Democrats for defending infanticide remains a recurring message for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence going into the 2020 elections.
Readers can click here to read, sign, and share LifeSiteNews’s petition urging the House to vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. At the time of this writing, the petition has amassed more than 21,000 signatures.