WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement after Senate Democrats blocked the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which ensures newborns that survive abortions receive lifesaving care from health care practitioners. Cassidy delivered a floor speech before the vote in support of the legislation.
“As a doctor, I am trained to provide the best care to my patients, regardless of the circumstances that brought them before me,” said Dr. Cassidy. “A child that survives a failed abortion attempt should receive lifesaving medical care.”
“It is troubling that Democrats refuse to acknowledge that infanticide – withholding care to a baby who is born alive – is horrific and wrong,” continued Dr. Cassidy.
In 2002, Congress passed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which codified in law that a newborn, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, is to be legally recognized as a person from the moment of birth if he or she shows any sign of life. The 2002 law did not provide any measures to enforce the protection of these infants, which has allowed the current practice of leaving a child to die after a botched abortion to continue. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act adds clear expectations of care, hospital transfer requirements, mandatory reporting, private rights of action for moms, and reasonable criminal penalties for health care professionals who violate the law.
Melissa Ohden, provided powerful testimony at a HELP Committee hearing last year about her personal experience as an abortion survivor.
Click here to watch Cassidy’s full remarks before the vote.
See below for the remarks as prepared for delivery.
M. President,
The bill we are discussing today should be very straightforward.
A child who survives a failed abortion attempt should receive lifesaving medical care.
We are talking about a living, breathing person who comes into the world after a failed abortion. They should not be cast aside. They deserve the care necessary to save their life.
There is no difference in the value and dignity of a child regardless of if they are wanted or not.
As a doctor, I am trained to provide the best care to my patients, regardless of the circumstances that brought them before me.
But M. President, my Democratic colleagues offer a variety of excuses to justify their opposition to this bill.
This is the inconvenient truth.
Botched abortions happen. Democrats refuse to acknowledge that infanticide – withholding care to a baby who is born alive – is horrific and wrong.
We know failed abortions occur.
The Senate HELP Committee heard powerful testimony last year from Melissa Ohden.
Melissa survived an abortion and would have been left to die if not for a courageous NICU nurse. A life that could have been wasted, now using her talents to advocate for those without a voice.
Innocent children should not have to hope that they have a nurse like Melissa’s who will do everything possible to save their life.
M. President, this is a vote in support of basic human decency. Every child deserves to have a chance to live.
I urge my colleagues to pray on that fact, reflect on that fact, and support this bill.
With that, I yield.
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