(Oregon Right to Life) — Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a move by Republicans to advance federal protections for abortion survivors.
As pro-life advocates from across the nation traveled to Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life this week, the narrowly Republican-led Senate voted on the newly reintroduced “Born Alive” bill to enshrine federal protections for babies who survive botched abortion attempts.
Pro-life Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma introduced the bill, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, to implement enforceable standards of care for abortion survivors.
“No child should be denied medical care simply because they are ‘unwanted,’” Sen. Lankford said in a January 16 press release. “Today, if an abortion procedure fails and a child is born alive, doctors can just ignore the crying baby on the table and watch them slowly die of neglect. That’s not an abortion, that’s infanticide.”
Republicans, who currently hold a slim 53 seat majority in the Senate, sought cloture on the bill, which would require three-fifths majority approval (or 60 “aye” votes) to pass. Though all Republicans but one voted in favor of the motion, it failed with a 52-47 vote Wednesday, The Hill reported. Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee did not vote because he was attending to a “family health matter,” according to a spokesperson, though the spokesperson said he would have voted in favor had he been present.
WATCH: Abortion Survivors Sit Down With Abortion Providers-Turned Pro-Life Advocates
The 2002 Born-Alive Protection Act, which is already federal law, defines infants who survive abortion as “persons” – but the law doesn’t specify standards of care. While infanticide is illegal, the lack of clearly defined protections for babies born alive during abortions makes them vulnerable to medical neglect, triggering ongoing efforts by pro-life advocates and lawmakers to implement specific requirements that abortion providers sustain the life of newborns who survive abortions.
According to the press release put out by Lankford’s office, “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.”
The legislation was sponsored by a bevy of pro-life Republican lawmakers, and supported by a coalition of pro-life groups, including March for Life Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, National Right to Life, Live Action, Family Research Council, Students for Life Action, Alliance Defending Freedom, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and more.
Even prior to Wednesday’s vote, Democrats and pro-abortion medical groups came out opposition to the measure, asserting that it mischaracterizes “abortion care [sic],” Bloomberg reported. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that bills like Lankford’s “make up a problem that doesn’t exist” since “doctors are already required to provide appropriate medical care by law and to follow ethical guidelines.”
But as pro-life advocates point out, existing laws do not provide enforceable standards of care.
The CDC estimates that, between 2003 and 2014, approximately 143 babies were born alive but did not ultimately survive after failed induced abortions, though it’s unclear whether action was taken to attempt life-saving care. Moreover, the CDC notes that “it is possible that this number (143) underestimates the total number of deaths involving induced termination.” Witness statements and recorded remarks from a late-term abortion doctor indicate that fatal neglect in such cases do indeed occur.
Meanwhile, the federal Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is similar to a bill put forward this legislative session by pro-life Oregon lawmakers.
READ: Newly-Elected Pro-Life Lawmakers Sworn in Ahead of Oregon’s 2025 Legislative Session
Oregon Republican Representative Bobby Levy (R–Echo) is sponsoring HB 2372 to enshrine explicit legal protections for abortion survivors. Senator Kim Thatcher (R–Keizer) sponsored the companion bill in the Oregon Senate.
A 2020 poll conducted by Ragnar Research Partners found that 78% of likely voters in Oregon support Born Alive protections. This finding was reinforced by a 2021 statistical model that found 72.2% of Oregonians likely support requiring medical care for infants who are born alive after an attempted abortion.
Proponents of Born Alive legislation include Oregon native Amy Miles, who was born alive at 28 weeks in Ashland during an abortion procedure intended to end her life. Today, Amy is a wife and mother, and she represents and speaks out for the many babies who survive abortions every year.
WATCH: Abortion survivors Amy Miles and Michelle Lyman share their stories
Author and speaker Melissa Ohden, the survivor of a saline abortion attempt, is also a prominent supporter of Born Alive protections. She is now the founder of the Abortion Survivors Network and will be one of the keynote speakers at Oregon Right to Life’s Together We Advocate conference in Tualatin on Saturday, March 1.
