House Republicans File Born-Alive Discharge Petition
Press Release
If there is one thing Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree on it is that, once born, every baby deserves protection and has a right to live. But tragically, this isn't the case.
Over the past few years, Democrat-controlled states like New York and Virginia have passed legislation that made abortions more accessible and allowed for them to be performed up until birth.
Killing a baby that was born alive is infanticide, there's no other way to put it. What Democrats are supporting is unconscionable.
Take, for example, the story of Melissa Ohden, a survivor of a failed saline-infusion abortion who was supposed to be left to die before two nurses rescued her. Melissa now raises awareness for the right of born-alive children to live by sharing her story, explaining, "As a fellow American, as a fellow human being, I deserved the same right to life, the same equal protection under the law as each and every one of you."
She couldn't be more right. Stories like Melissa's are why Republicans introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act last Congress -- legislation that would have ensured that every child who survives an abortion is transported to a hospital and administered the same medical care any other baby would receive.
House Democrats responded by blocking this legislation repeatedly for months.
But Republicans will never give up on the fight for life. Today at 4:30pm, House Republicans, led by Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01) and Representatives Ann Wagner (MO-02) and Kat Cammack (FL-03), are filing a discharge petition to force a vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on the House Floor.
Speaker Pelosi blocked this commonsense legislation for far too long, but this does not have to be partisan. Any child who survives an abortion should have the opportunity for life, and both Republicans and Democrats should come together to defend them as we defend every other child throughout America.
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