Senate Democrats are blocking GOP efforts to prosecute some abortion providers

Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-authored bill on Wednesday that would have criminalized some doctors who perform abortions, blocking the GOP’s first effort to limit reproductive rights since the party won the governing trifecta.

With unanimous opposition from Democrats, the measure stayed in the Senate by a vote of 52 to 47, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and proceed to a vote. finally.

The hearing, scheduled to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade and in the same week as the annual March for Life in Washington, is part of an ongoing Republican effort to appeal to the conservative, anti-abortion camp.

The bill requires that babies born alive after attempted abortions receive the same legal protections and levels of care as all newborns, and threatens providers with up to five years in prison. for failing to resuscitate a live-born child during an abortion.

Federal law already requires that children who survive attempted abortions receive access, and it is rare for babies to be born alive during abortions. But the law would create new penalties for providers involved in such practices, which could also apply to women who treat women with severe pregnancy complications who are in ‘the painful situation in which their children cannot survive.

The Senate also passed the same bill last year and is expected to take it up again this week.

Conservative groups have continued to use opposition to abortion rights as a litmus test, even as an outright ban on abortion has divided voters across the country in multiple election cycles. Republicans often bring up what they call the “Live Abortion Protection Act” when they control Congress, portraying it as something that shouldn’t be debated.

“This should not be a controversial bill,” Sen. John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said Wednesday. “We should all be able to say that babies born alive after attempted abortions must be protected.”

Republicans used the debate to portray Democrats as extremists on an issue that has proven politically toxic for GOP candidates since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Because nothing is more important to Democrats than abortion,” said Mr. Thune added, “they will vote against legislation to provide adequate treatment to babies born alive in abortion clinics.”

Democrats warned that the measure was the first flaw in a broader Republican assault on abortion rights that would be implemented nationwide, though they insisted the issue should be left to the states.

“They told you they’re not going to touch abortion – that’s a lie, it’s gone, in two days,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and minority leader. “Americans should take this warning: Watch what they do, not what they say or say.”

Sen. Pete Ricketts, Republican of Nebraska, said it was “absolutely barbaric” that babies born alive after abortions are “left to die of exposure.” All the bills, he said, require health care to be given to these babies.

And Senator James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, described in detail how a woman he knew who had survived an abortion was in a hospital when someone noticed that she was “crying over medical waste.” .”

Democrats have accused Republicans of spreading false information and seeking to incriminate doctors involved in the most difficult times for women and their families.

“If a baby is born alive and the doctor kills it, that’s illegal now, and they’re going to be brought to justice and they’re going to be punished accordingly,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington. He said what the law would do is force doctors to remove fetuses with life-threatening anomalies from grieving mothers.

In releasing the bill, Republicans appear to have used the same political tactic they used on immigration this month: making narrow measures that they support a common process and the Democrats are very emboldened to oppose it. On Wednesday, the House was scheduled to give final approval to a bill that would mandate the detention and possible deportation of immigrants who enter the country without permission and are charged with certain crimes after taking his dozen Democrats despite their concerns that the process was insufficient. the defendant.

But while there is ample evidence of a growing bipartisan political consensus to curb illegal immigration, there is no such agreement on abortion rights. In fact, Democrats saw a silver lining in Republicans’ insistence on adopting a bill on the issue. About 63 percent of voters support legalizing abortion in all or most cases, according to a Pew poll.

“The only good news is that they are showing their true colors, just two days after the president was sworn in,” Mr. Schumer said.

But Republicans like Senator John Cornyn of Texas say they stand against the so-called “infanticide.”

The surgical procedure commonly used for abortion after the first trimester, known as dilation and evacuation, makes the chance of a live birth negligible. Most abortions in the United States occur in the first trimester, before the fetus reaches maturity, which is about 23 weeks.

Political groups that support abortion rights say the measure is an effort to discourage women from seeking abortions and doctors from performing them.

Democrats said it was a shame that Republicans used the first week of Mr Trump’s administration to intensify their attacks on women’s reproductive freedom.

“We will create a new government order that will challenge the best judgments for grieving families who discover their fetuses have a life-threatening disease,” Ms Murray said. “Americans are worried about what will happen to reproductive rights under a Republican administration. During the first weeks of Trump’s pregnancy, that’s the focus of Republicans?”