Op-ed by Elad Hakim | Photo: Alamy
On Wednesday, the Republican-led House passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. According to this legislation, any infant born alive after an attempted abortion is a “legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States.” The bill passed 220-210, and the 210 “no” votes all came from Democrats. In other words, nearly every Democrat in the House voted against a bill protecting an infant born alive after an attempted abortion.
The bill imposes certain obligations on doctors that many consider humane. As reported by Fox News, in accordance with the bill:
“Doctors would be required to care for those infants as a “reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive.’
Following that level of care, doctors would be required [to] admit those infants to a hospital for further care. Any violation of this standard would result in fines and imprisonment for up to five years, or both.”
The fact that most Democrats opposed this bill is highly concerning, yet not surprising.
According to Fox News, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., believed that the bill would set up new requirements that would “directly interfere with the doctors’ medical judgment and dictate a medical standard of care that may not be appropriate in all circumstances.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., stated, “We all know what this is about. It is not about the protection of newborn children. It’s about control. It’s about the nationwide abortion ban that Republicans have been itching to enact since the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” the outlet added.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said the bill was “extremist, dangerous and unnecessary.” Finally, Rep. Mary Scanlon, D-Pa., opposed the GOP’s “grotesque attempt to politicize abortion care and criminalize doctors,” according to Fox.
These statements, and others like them, bolster the argument that Democrats simply place no value in the sanctity of human life. For example, nothing about providing medical treatment to an infant who survives an abortion remotely relates to the issue of control. On the contrary, it is about caring for a human life that has the same rights as that of the mother. The bill also has nothing to do with banning abortion, which is nothing more than a talking point that Democrats sold to the American people before the November elections. Rather, it is meant to protect infants who survive an abortion.
After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, many Democrats blasted the decision and accused the high court and Republicans of eliminating a woman’s “right” to have an abortion. Many pro-abortion advocates took to the streets and carried signs with the phrase, “my body, my choice.” Democrats were incorrect, of course, as the Supreme Court merely left the decision regarding abortion to the individual states.
In reality, many Democrats were not merely seeking a “right” to abort an unborn child only within a certain time frame (i.e., 15 weeks). Rather, they were seeking the “right” to abort a child at any point during the pregnancy and/or up to a certain point afterward. The statements made by various Democrats do not allow any other conclusion. In essence, House Democrats are telling Americans that not only do unborn babies have no right to life, but infants who survive an attempted abortion and who are living and breathing human beings also have no right to life.
For these Democrats, the right to abort a child appears to have no limits. It doesn’t matter that the child is a human being that can feel pain, breath, and possibly survive with treatment. At what point does a living baby have the right to assert the “my body, my choice” defense? At what point will Democrats consider the life of the baby? As reported by Fox News, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., recently stated:
“I find it absurd, I find it unconscionable that this would be a matter of discussion on this body, that we would not render medical aid to the most innocent amongst us, an unborn child that is born alive after the most traumatic circumstances possible. This is not about a woman’s access to abortion. This is about the sanctity of life and the basic dignity of a human child.”
While he is entirely correct, many Democrats tragically see things differently. To them, infants that are born alive have no right to life. This is simply unconscionable and defies all notions of human dignity and decency.
Mr. Hakim is an attorney and columnist. His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Thinker, and other online publications. He is also a regular guest on OANN’s Tipping Point, and has appeared on Newsmax, The Jenna Ellis Show, Steadfast and Loyal Podcast with Allen West, The Dave Weinbaum Show, and Real America’s Voice. The views expressed herein are the author’s own and do not constitute legal advice.
