Democrats block bill to guarantee medical care for abortion survivors



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SEnate Democrats Monday rejected a GOP attempt to advance a law that would specify that babies who survived an abortion attempt must receive medical care.

Republicans and advocates of abortion have called for the vote of the bill, the law on the protection of survivors of abortion Born-Alive, so that they can put on the hot seat of senators individual on the issue of third trimester abortion. GOP Senators have tried to pressure Democrats to declare that they believe abortion should be limited, after controversial comments seem to indicate the opposite. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam says the opposite.

The bill did not reach the 60 votes needed to advance in a procedural maneuver, 53 to 44. Democrats Bob Casey, Penn., Doug Jones, Ala. And Joe Manchin, W.V. joined the Republicans in your votinh favor.

Republicans and Democrats have largely spoken to the purpose of the bill during the debate prior to the vote. Senator Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Who introduced the bill, said it would prevent doctors from letting a baby die after surviving a failed abortion. Democrats responded that the bill would limit what doctors could do after the birth of a baby who was suffering from a serious health problem and that, therefore, they would not live after birth or survive for a long time. .

In his address to the vote, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said the bill "would target, intimidate and prohibit reproductive doctors throughout the country" and "impose obligations to the types of care that physicians must provide. "

"It has always been illegal to harm a newborn baby," he said. "This bill has nothing to do with it." He described the legislation as "worst policy".

Sasse responded that the bill would prevent doctors from "actively allowing a baby to die" who had survived an abortion.

"This bill aims to guarantee fundamental rights, equal rights, to babies born and surviving outside the uterus," he said.

Earlier this month, Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., Rejected a motion to pass the Protection of Survivors of Newborn Abortion by Unanimous Consent Act, a procedure that would be followed in the future. only one senator can stop. Murray objected because, she says, the bill was not necessary because the United States already has laws against infanticide.

Northam and Virginia Del. Kathy Tran, also a Democrat, said several weeks ago that she supported a bill that appeared to allow abortion at the time of birth. Tran then stated that she had misrepresented when abortion would be allowed and the Northam office issued a statement claiming that the governor's comments were misinterpreted and aimed at dealing with cases in which babies would not survive at birth due to malformations or other health problem.

Sasse insisted on the comments during the ground debate Monday, saying Northam's comments amounted to a "discussion about whether to throw that little baby in the trash."

Virginia has tabled the abortion bill, but other states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, are considering easing restrictions on abortion in the third quarter . Proponents of less stringent restrictions claim that they are designed to address situations in which fetuses suffer from serious health problems that would prevent them from surviving at birth or resulting in short and painful lives.

The bill that failed Monday would have been based on the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002, which stated that "every child member of the homo sapiens species who was born alive to any what stage of development "is a" person "within the meaning of the federal laws. . The purpose of this law was to make it clear that babies were supposed to be protected if they survived an abortion, and Sasse's bill further clarifies the level of care they are expected to receive, including immediate transfer to a hospital.

If this protocol is not followed, the doctor performing the abortion will be subject to criminal prosecution. Republicans have noted the case of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, an abortion provider convicted of murdering babies after an abortion attempt, as proof of the need for their bill. Democrats and abortion rights groups say that the doctor was prosecuted and convicted, which shows that the legal mechanism is already adequate.

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