Have Democrats Supported Bill to Prevent Medical Treatment to Babies Surviving Abortion
Dems thwart Senate Republicans on 2 abortion-related bills
Senate Democrats have blocked a pair of Republican bills that would ban most tardily-term abortions and threaten prison for doctors who don't try saving the life of infants built-in live during abortions
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a pair of Republican bills that would ban most late-term abortions and threaten prison house for doctors who don't try saving the life of infants born alive during abortions.
The measures take been defeated multiple times in contempo years, but Senate Republicans pushed for renewed votes to permit GOP lawmakers to make an election-twelvemonth appeal to conservative voters.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of bowing to "the radical demands of the far left" to "drown out common sense" and the views of millions of Americans.
"It almost defies conventionalities that an entire party could find crusade to object to this basic protection for babies,'' the Kentucky Republican said.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer blasted McConnell for taking up the Senate's time on what he chosen "imitation, dishonest and farthermost legislation that has nothing to practise with improving the lives of ordinary Americans.''
Noting that existing laws protect infants, Schumer said the GOP bills would, in event, "criminalize" women'south reproductive care and intimidate health care providers.
"Putting these already defeated bills up for a show vote is not a proficient faith attempt to ameliorate the lives of ... American women,'' the New York Democrat said. "Every unmarried Senate Republican knows that these bills cannot and will not pass. Simply they're putting them on the floor anyway to pander to the hard right. And to cover upward the fact that they won't provide good health care for women.''
Senators voted 56-41 for the built-in-live pecker, and 53-44 for a divide measure banning nearly abortions after twenty weeks. Both tallies were short of the lx votes needed to end Democratic delaying tactics and force a Senate vote.
Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin from West Virginia were the only lawmakers to cantankerous party lines on the born-live pecker. Jones and GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed the belatedly-term abortion ban.
3 senators seeking the Democratic nomination for president — Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota - did not cast votes.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the Senate debate was not most passing laws or even health intendance. "It is really virtually Republicans' crass political calculation that they can fire up their far-right base with an all-out war against the constitutionally protected right to safety, legal ballgame,'' she said.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said the bill he sponsored was non nearly limiting access to abortion at all. Instead, the bill is intended to make sure that every newborn baby "has a fighting take chances — whether she's born in a labor and delivery ward or whether she's born in an abortion clinic."
Sasse's bill would make it a criminal offense to deny care to a baby that'south survived an abortion. "Are we a country that protects babies that are alive, built-in exterior the womb later having survived a botched abortion?'' he asked.
Or is the United states of america a country "that says it's okay to simply sit back and allow that babe to dice? It's a evidently and elementary question and nosotros all know what the right respond is,'' Sasse said. "This isn't a hard telephone call."
A separate bill sponsored past Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would essentially ban ballgame later xx weeks, the bespeak at which many scientists say an unborn child tin feel pain.
Graham said he believe a majority of Americans oppose allowing abortion in the fifth month of pregnancy. The U.s.a. is currently ane of seven countries in the world that allow constituent abortion after 20 weeks.
"The United states should non be in that social club,'' Graham said.
The two votes marked the latest instance in which Republicans have tried to go on criminal offense on the consequence of abortion and put Democratic lawmakers who support ballgame rights in an uncomfortable position.
"It'due south hard to believe that, in 21st century America, the life of a baby more halfway through pregnancy is considered up for debate, just it's true,'' said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a grouping that works to elect anti-abortion candidates.
Opponents, noting the rarity of such births and citing laws making it a criminal offence to kill newborn babies, said the GOP bills were unnecessary. They called the proposals part of a button by ballgame opponents to curb access to the procedure and intimidate doctors who perform it, and said late-term abortions mostly occur when the infant is considered incapable of surviving after birth.
But ane% of all abortions occur afterwards 21 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Establish, which supports abortion rights. Abortions during the final weeks are rarer even so.
Doctors' and abortion-rights groups say it is extremely unusual for live infants to exist built-in during attempted belatedly-term abortions, which they say commonly occur when the baby is extremely deformed or deemed unable to survive afterward birth. In such cases, families sometimes determine they want to induce labor so they tin can spend time with the infant before information technology dies.
"Families across the state take actually faced these decisions, take spoken out to make articulate politicians should take no part in them,'' Murray said. "Pressing for these awful bills yr later twelvemonth may exist nothing more a cynical political tactic for Republicans, but passing them would exist an unconscionable do in cruelty.''
———
Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this story.
——
This story corrects the vote counts on both bills. An earlier version reversed the vote counts.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/senate-gop-thwarted-bills-restrict-abortion-69211913
0 Response to "Have Democrats Supported Bill to Prevent Medical Treatment to Babies Surviving Abortion"
Enregistrer un commentaire