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The House’s proposal to make doctors provide life-saving care to babies who survive an attempted abortion was not in vain — as it simultaneously revealed the humanity of babies in the womb and the truly callous nature of the pro-abortion movement.
A bill that would require healthcare workers to provide the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” for a child born with a heartbeat after an abortion as during a normal birth will not become the law of the land.
The “Born Alive Act” passed the House of Representatives last Thursday in a 217 to 204 vote, but the victory was only a symbolic one as the Senate just one day prior had failed to gain enough votes to move to cloture and a full floor vote. To do so, the bill would have needed 60 votes, and in a 52-47 vote, it fell short. Both votes were along strict party lines.
President Trump had already indicated his strong support for H.R. 21, which was officially known as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. In a statement, the White House applauded the House “for its efforts to protect the most vulnerable and prevent infanticide.”
Still, through the votes taken, the bill managed to further highlight exactly how radical the pro-abortion movement has gotten in the last several years.
“As a physician, it is an anathema to me that anyone would not intervene to save a human life,” said Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., a urologist and renal specialist. “We are called as physicians to do no harm and neglecting to aid a living being is a violation of our oath. The absence of protections for babies born in botched abortions is immoral and a stain on our country. This bill is not about abortion. It is about saving an innocent life after the cord has been cut.”
Democrats had argued that the bill is unnecessary since laws already exist against infanticide and murder. Opponents also claimed that the new legislation could harm women seeking late-term abortions and unfairly penalize medical professionals.
For example, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., released a statement claiming that the Born Alive Act would “only harm women more” and “would do nothing other than create a situation where doctors cannot properly care for high-risk patients. In this country, killing a child who is alive is already murder, and was codified into law in 2002, there is no need for further legislation there.”
In its statement, however, the White House countered that “Current law fails to provide adequate protections, including adequate requirements for the provision of medical care, for vulnerable newborns who survive an abortion attempt.”
Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., called out those who refused to vote for the bill. “Requiring medical care for babies born alive after a failed abortion isn’t controversial, it’s common sense,” he stated.
Pro-abortion activists claim that few, if any, babies actually survive an abortion attempt, but a Minnesota Department of Health report recently determined that in 2021 five babies died after failed abortions.
“In one instance, fetal anomalies were reported resulting in death shortly after delivery. No measures taken to preserve life were reported and the infant did not survive,” the report stated. “In two instances, comfort care measures were provided as planned and the infant did not survive.”
Another portion of the report revealed, “In two instances, the infant was previable. No measures taken to preserve life were reported and the infant did not survive.”
The question isn’t if any babies are born alive during an abortion attempt but how many. And the answer is: We have no way of knowing.
Abortion clinics are in the business of ending lives, so given their lack of transparency and innate incentive to complete the job they’re being paid to do, why would any abortion clinic report — much less provide care for — a born-alive baby after a botched abortion?
There is a grotesque record showing that it does, in fact, happen. Infamous abortionist and convicted serial killer Kermit Gosnell was convicted of killing three born-alive infants, though there is no doubt that he killed many, many more. Dr. Cesare Santangelo, an abortionist at Washington D.C.’s SurgiClinic, was caught on camera saying that if an infant was born alive he would not try to save its life.
And pro-abortion politicians and institutions provide cover for such crimes. In 2022, the driver of a truck picking up medical waste at the Washington SurgiClinic gave pro-life activist Lauren Handy a box of fetal remains that contained the bodies of five late- and full-term babies. However, when she called D.C. police to report that the children could have been victims of illegal partial-birth abortion or even have been left to die after birth, they refused to investigate.
The Born Alive Act has been introduced on several different occasions over the past decade, and though it failed to again become law this year, it was not for naught.
For one, by all the nay votes, it shows that the pro-abortion movement absolutely does not believe its long-held contention that life and personhood begin at birth. And most importantly, it shows that they will do anything to protect what they see as the absolute right to carry out a planned death sentence on an unwanted child — even if it that death sentence isn’t completed until after birth.
But more importantly, the Born Alive Act this year provided pro-lifers a platform on which to show the humanity of babies, both inside and outside of the womb.
The Bible affirms the value of human life from the earliest moments. For example, Psalm 119:73 states, “Your hands made me and formed me.” Psalm 139:13-14 adds, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart to serve me. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
As Christians, we are called to advocate for the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9). And so we recognize this continuing battle for life, and even in the face of setbacks and defeats, we must keep fighting.
How? Not using the world’s ways, but God’s ways. And that means loving and supporting those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy; educating those around us about the horrors of abortion and the hope of new life; donating to and volunteering at crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life ministries; voting for pro-life political candidates; marching in pro-life rallies and participating in prayer vigils at abortion clinics; and sharing the Gospel.
Most importantly, though, we pray:
And finally, we pray for the day when abortion is not just illegal but unthinkable — and when no law would ever be needed to compel a physician to provide lifesaving care to a struggling newborn.
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