Jennifer Popik, J.D., director of federal legislation
for National Right to Life
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and five of her pro-life House colleagues held a press conference to condemn Senate Democrats for failing to Advance the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 311), sponsored by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). The final vote was 53-44 with all but three Democrats voting to block the bill from receiving the 60 votes necessary to move S.311 forward (“invoke cloture”). The bill would extend federal legal protection to babies who are born alive during an abortion.
In the House, Democrats have erected a procedural hurtle which prevents a similar bill from being heard. Along with her colleagues, Wagner urged House members to sign onto a “discharge petition” to force the same legislation to a vote on the floor of the House.
A discharge petition is a procedural tactic to circumvent the Speaker of the House when the Speaker opposes a measure. It allows an absolute majority of the House (218 lawmakers) to force a floor vote on a bill, even if pro-abortion leaders oppose the measure.
Rep. Wagner was joined by Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tx.), and several prolife organizations who all made remarks. The message was united in expressing shock over the 44 members of the United States Senate who voted to protect what amounts to infanticide: willfully withholding life-saving care from a born-alive infant.
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