Ohio House committee to hear Born-Alive Infant Protection Act this week, bill has already passed Senate

By Dave Andrusko

After passing the state Senate by an overwhelming 25-6 vote, an Ohio House Committee will meet to consider the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act this Thursday. Senate Bill 157 would require a report to be created by the Ohio Department of Health for the abortionist to file if a baby is born alive during a botched abortion. It would also require that  doctors perform life-saving treatment to the baby, as they would to an infant born alive in any other situation.

“The bill acknowledges the simple fact that regardless of the circumstances surrounding his or her birth, every child deserves our compassion are care,” said Sen. Terry Johnson. “The heart of the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act is quite simple: no helpless newborn child should be left alone to die,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.

The bill will be heard in the House Committee on Families, Aging and Human Services.

Debate was intense, if lopsided, in the Senate. According to Jessie Balmert of the Cincinnati Enquirer, pro-abortion Democrats—as they always do—insisted there was no need for the legislation.

Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-North Avondale, asked Republicans what this bill would do beyond what is already included in Ohio law punishing doctors for abortion manslaughter.

Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson. “If you would like to vote against a bill that would protect babies that have been born alive, that’s your prerogative.” 

Pro-lifers in Congress have been repeatedly thwarted by Democrats in their efforts to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Then-President Donald Trump tweeted: “The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth.”

But efforts are ongoing, nevertheless.  There are now 213 House Members who have joined forces to attempt to bring this anti-infanticide measure to the House floor for a vote. The goal is 218 signatures on a discharge petition.

What is a discharge petition? It’s a way around hostile committees. If 218 signatures are secured, the legislation—in this case,  H.R. 619– would be brought directly to the floor for a vote. At that juncture, Democrats would bob and weave, distort and misrepresent, but there would be a real debate over how abortion survivors should be treated (or, if you are a Democrat, not treated).

Why is the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act even needed? Pro-abortion Democrats insist the 2002 Born-Alive Infant Protection Act suffices. But it doesn’t—and, of course, they know that.

There is no enforcement provision! That is, there is no federal law governing the actions of abortionists who deny care to babies who survive abortions. Abortion survivors are left to the tender mercies of the guy who just tried to kill them.

Or, is there a reason to believe a discharge petition is even needed in the first place? We have written about this on many occasions, usually quoting pro-life Members of the House of Representatives.

Here’s just one voice —but a very important one: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). He described the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act as “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.”

McCarthy added, “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.” However, “tragically, this isn’t the case.”

McCarthy concluded, correctly, “Killing a baby that was born alive is infanticide, there’s no other way to put it. What Democrats are supporting is unconscionable.”