Senator Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday blocked a Republican bill that would have saved the lives of babies born alive after botched abortion attempts.
And Schumer was caught lying about the bill when he defended Democrat votes.
Blocking the bill means that the health care providers would have the legal right to kill a fully healthy baby— moving arms, feet, legs, crying for milk and all.
Democrats made their’ voice clear: They couldn’t care less. And they’ll let infanticide go unchecked.
Seemingly out of left field, Schumer even claimed about the bill’s contents would “impose requirements on what type of care doctors must provide in certain circumstances, even if that care is ineffective, contradictory to medical evidence, and against the family’s wishes.”
But the bill doesn’t include specifics. Drawn up by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., the proposal is fairly simple. It all comes down to one question.
“I want to ask each and every one of my colleagues whether or not we’re OK with infanticide.”
If an infant is born alive during a botched late-term abortion attempt, Sasse’s bill would simply require doctors to render “the same degree” of care used for any birth. The baby would be immediately sent to a hospital and given the care any other child would receive.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated this point.
“Can the extreme far-left politics surrounding abortion really have come this far?” McConnell asked. “Are we really supposed to think that it’s normal that there are now two sides debating whether a newborn, whether newborn living babies deserve medical attention?”
Supporters said the measure presented lawmakers with a moral choice. Democrats didn’t care.
Senators voted 53-44 for Sasse’s bill — seven votes short of the 60 needed to end Democratic delaying tactics aimed at derailing the measure.
The vote was the latest instance in which Republicans have tried to go on offense on the issue and put Democratic abortion-rights lawmakers in an uncomfortable position.
Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin from West Virginia were the only lawmakers to cross party lines as Democrats demonstrated anew that even in the minority, they can derail common sense bills.
Several dozen House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., stood on the Senate floor during the vote, just as a contingent of House Democrats did last month during a crucial vote on ending the government shutdown. Republicans control the Senate by 53-47.
President Donald Trump reacted to the vote while en route to his summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, tweeting —
Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children. The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2019
….This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress. If there is one thing we should all agree on, it’s protecting the lives of innocent babies.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2019
Republicans in the Democratic-run House plan to try to bring a vote on a similar measure this spring. They will employ a seldom-used tactic, a petition requiring signatures from most House members to succeed. However, the GOP is expected to fall well short of the 20 Democratic supporters they’d need.
Republicans, eager to put congressional Democrats from swing states in an uneasy political spot, have been pouncing on the issue since it arose earlier this year in Virginia and New York.
Trump has criticized a new abortion law in New York that permits late-term abortions, for example.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.