House Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have again blocked a bill designed to ban infanticide. On Thursday, House Democrats again blocked an attempt by House Republicans to initiate a vote on the bill. This now makes the eighteenth time that House Democrats have blocked the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
At the time of refusing the vote on the bill, House Democrats claimed that there is no bipartisan agreement to bring the bill up for a vote, yet Republicans have repeatedly asked Democrats to come to an agreement in order to bring the bill up for a vote. This is the nineteenth time in total that Democrats have blocked a bill to provide care and treatment for babies born alive after an abortion. The bill has been blocked eighteen times in the House. Additionally, Democrats have blocked the bill twice in the Senate.
Republican Representative from Utah, Chris Stewart, offered what is known as the unanimous consent rule to request a vote on the anti-infanticide bill, but Democrats denied his attempt. You can see his request in the video below:
House Republicans held a press conference on the 13th to discuss how to get around the Democrats and Nancy Pelosi.
Cathy McMorris Rogers from Washington state called the attempts by the Democrats to block the votes ‘disheartening.’ In an interview with the Daily Signal she said:
“In years past, this is passed with unanimous consent in the Senate. So it really exposed the extreme position that the left is taking right now, that Democrats are saying they reject legislation to protect babies born alive.
In the House, we are moving forward with a discharge petition. As you know, the Democrats have the majority in the House. One way that we can bring a bill to the floor is to demand a discharge petition.
You have to get 218 people to sign a discharge petition, and then you can bypass Speaker Nancy Pelosi and bring the bill directly to the floor. We’re working actively on that right now.”
H.R. 962, also known as the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, introduced by Republican Representative Ann Wagner from Missouri ensures that a baby born alive after a botched or attempted abortion must be offered the same basic rights to healthcare as any other newborn.
