WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Senate failed again Tuesday (Feb. 25) to approve protections for unborn babies late in their mothers’ pregnancies and newborns who survive abortions.
Supporters of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act fell short in afternoon attempts to bring the proposals to the Senate floor. They needed 60 votes to invoke cloture, as the procedural move is known, and proceed to a roll call on passage of the bills.
Senators voted 53-44 for cloture on the pain-capable legislation and 56–41 for cloture on the born-alive bill. Two Democrats voted in favor of cloture on the pain-capable measure and three in favor on the born-alive proposal. Two Republicans voted against cloture on the pain-capable bill.
The Senate also failed to invoke cloture on the pain-capable proposal in 2018 and the born-alive measure in 2019.
The pain-capable bill would have banned abortions on babies 20 weeks or more after fertilization based on scientific evidence that a child in the womb can experience pain by that point in gestation. The other proposal would have required health care for a baby born alive during an abortion.
Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore told Baptist Press, “It ought to be a national scandal that the United States Senate failed to advance either of these basic and common-sense bills that would protect human life.
“This is an awful government failure that multiple elected officials chose to neglect the needs of vulnerable children to protect the abortion industry,” said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, in written remarks. “Our work to defend human dignity is a long-term effort, and we will continue forward with diligence and in prayer for the day that every life is valued.”
In 2018, the Senate voted 51-46 to bring the Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act to the floor but fell short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture. The House of Representatives had approved its version of the legislation in 2017.
The Senate also failed in a 53-44 vote in February 2019 to invoke cloture on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
Even if the Senate had been able to invoke cloture on and approve both bills, they likely would have been dead on arrival in the House, where the Democratic majority overwhelmingly opposes the measures. Republicans in the House failed to bring the born-alive proposal to the floor for a vote last year despite repeated attempts.
If the bills had reached his desk, President Donald Trump would have signed them, his administration said in a policy statement.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., sponsor of the born-alive proposal, spoke on the Senate floor Monday (Feb. 24) in support of both bills. He said, “These two bills are different, but they are connected by this simple question, which is: Will the Senate vote tomorrow to protect babies?”
Of his legislation, Sasse told senators, “If we’re hemming and hawing about whether it’s OK to let children die of neglect, we know we’ve lost part of our soul.”
Democratic leaders criticized Senate Republicans for holding the votes.
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Source: Baptist Press
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