Senate Democrats unite to vote against protections for infants who survive abortions

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 23, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

Every Democrat in the U.S Senate on Wednesday voted against legislation that would have required doctors to provide lifesaving health care to infants who are born after a failed abortion attempt, with the party-line opposition effectively dooming the bill.

The “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” which was introduced by Republican Sen. James Lankford, would have guaranteed equal protection under the law for “any infant born alive after an abortion.”

The proposed legislation would have required all health care practitioners present during such a birth to “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a … health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”

Although a majority of senators voted to advance the legislation, the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster.

The vote was 52-47 with every voting Republican supporting the bill and every Democrat in opposition. One Republican was not available for the vote.

“I am disappointed that every Senate Democrat voted against my [bill], making something that should be common sense completely partisan for the first time,” Lankford said in a post on X.

“This bill is straightforward and would save lives,” he added. “I believe every life is valuable and that no one is disposable.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said before the vote that the bill “attacks women’s health” and alleged it “adds more legal risk for doctors on something that is already illegal.” 

He alleged the bill was part of an “extremist anti-choice resurgence.” The proposed bill would not have restricted or limited access to abortions that are legal.

The measure would have imposed up to a five-year prison sentence on any health care practitioner who fails to provide equal health care for an infant who survives an abortion attempt and would have required employees to report violations to law enforcement. 

It would have also allowed the woman on whom the abortion was performed to sue a health care practitioner who violates this law.

The mother of a child who survives an abortion attempt could not be prosecuted under this law under any circumstances.