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It’s Time for Congress to Pass Bill Protecting Abortion Survivors

Babies can and often do survive the abortion process – and the law should then recognize their right to live, the same as anyone else’s.

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Capitol in mourining following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865

When is a newborn baby not entitled to the same love, rights and health care as any other baby? When she was supposed to be aborted, but lived.

Abortion survivors are not getting the equal protection of the laws

Americans rightly pride themselves on the principle of equal justice. Yet there is a group of highly vulnerable citizens falling through the cracks today: the survivors of abortions. An abortion is deemed successful when it ends the life of the baby. When the abortion fails and the baby is born alive, it is an extremely dangerous moment for that child.

U.S. Representative Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) have re-introduced a bill in Congress, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, to right this wrong. We are so heartened that the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune is eager to hold a vote on this legislation. In his words:

This straightforward bill simply states that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion is entitled to the same protection and medical care that any other newborn baby is entitled to. This vote will ask Democrats to answer whether a living baby born after an attempted abortion should be provided with medical care or be left to die. It shouldn’t be a hard question.

He’s exactly right. Yet under previous Congresses, Democrats in power blocked this bill, refusing more than 80 requests to hold a vote. As a U.S. senator, Kamala Harris voted against it twice. They deny that survivors exist, yet still act as if this bill threatens so-called “reproductive rights.”

Survivors are a dirty little secret of the abortion industry. In the 1980s, a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer called babies born alive “the dreaded complication.” Hard as they try to sweep it under the rug, every so often the truth slips out. A study in the June 2024 edition of The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology analyzed 13,777 abortions performed between 15-29 weeks’ gestation at hospitals in Quebec, Canada. It found over 11% resulted in a live birth – more than 1,500 children.

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ACOG published “Second-Trimester Abortion and Risk of Live Birth” in the June 2024 edition of The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, volume 230, issue 6. Stats to come so people can see the truth. Late term abortions happen. Babies survive them. Frequently.

Are The New York Times calling us liars?

The New York Times has argued that these are “extremely rare” cases of “infants who were close to death.”

Vance’s claim that Walz signed a bill removing the obligation to care for an infant who survives abortions “is false,” the Times says, because “[d]octors have argued to get rid of these laws.”

This is false.

I – Melissa Ohden – am living proof that babies survive abortions. When I was a young teenager, I learned that my birth mother was forced to have a saline infusion abortion at a hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. After five days burning in a toxic salt solution meant to end my life, to the staff’s surprise, I was born alive – much further along than the abortionist thought. Had I not been rescued by a compassionate nurse who heard my cries and rushed me to the NICU, I would not have survived to be adopted by a loving family and wouldn’t be here to tell my story today. I have since connected with hundreds of other survivors through my organization, The Abortion Survivors Network. We are using our voices, and politicians and the media aren’t going to erase us.

The ABC mod tried to deny that abortion survivors are left to die

President Trump has long used his voice to expose the horrific reality of infanticide in America. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he reminded everyone of the chilling words of Ralph Northam – the former governor of Virginia and a doctor – casually describing how “a discussion would ensue” about whether to save a baby born alive. Trump found himself battling not only his opponent but an ABC moderator who tried to claim babies can’t be left to die.

The data defy this claim. Even with just eight states reporting statistics, between 1997 and 2024, 284 babies were born alive. In Minnesota under Governor Tim Walz, at least eight babies were born alive and died without receiving life-saving medical care. In 2023, with Democrats in control of both chambers of the legislature for only the second time in a decade, Walz removed the state’s law requiring medical personnel to preserve the life and health of infants born alive. Not only that, they eliminated the requirement to report data about those live births. 2023 is the last year we will even have that information.

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The “comfort care” hoax

Worse still is hearing opponents of born-alive protections defend infanticide with the benign-sounding term “comfort care.”

Have you heard the term “comfort care” in relation to abortion? It may sound nice––and that’s the point–– but it’s not “care.”

In the abortion context, it is a euphemism for letting babies die without medical care, even if they might live. At one Illinois hospital, a whistleblower revealed, babies born alive often survived for several hours. If no one was willing to hold them, they were taken to the “Comfort Room” which was basically a public relations effort – previously they were left in the soiled utility room or even put in the trash. At the hospital where Melissa was born, they might be drowned in a bucket of formaldehyde. At abortion centers across America, where there is often less oversight, these children are at even greater risk from abortionists who believe they won’t face consequences.

Work to do

The vast majority of Americans agree such barbaric practices have no place in our country. Despite Democrats spending more than half a billion dollars on TV ads promoting abortion in the 2024 elections, voters rejected their agenda. This month Americans from all over the country will march in the nation’s capital to send the message that every life matters.

Yet more work is needed. Fewer than 20 states have strong protections for babies who survive abortions. And as Minnesota shows, the laws they have are only as secure as the next administration.

The time to finally protect every newborn baby equally nationwide is now. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act deserves to pass both chambers of Congress with 100% of the vote, and President Trump will deliver an outstanding victory by signing it into law.

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This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.

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Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and author of “Life is Winning: Inside the Fight for Unborn Children and Their Mothers.”

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Melissa Ohden is the president and CEO of The Abortion Survivors Network.

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