Senate Democrats had an opportunity Monday night to put some daylight between themselves and the outrageous remarks Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam made several weeks ago about the choice of what to do with a child born alive from a botched abortion.
Northam, a former pediatric neurologist, had remarked late last month on a radio show that in the case of a botched abortion, "the infant would be kept comfortable; the infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother [as to what to do with the child]."
Democrats also had a chance to separate themselves from the state legislatures that have passed or are passing laws dealing with abortions just shy of birth. In doing so, they still could have been supportive of a woman's right to do what she wanted with an unborn child but then declare that a child born should be given every chance to live.
That 44 Democratic senators could not do that - that nearly half of the elected senators in the United States wouldn't agree that a child born alive was worth protecting - is abhorrent.
Even if the Democrats believed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was a Republican stunt, what was the hurt of voting to give a child already born a chance to live. Heck, the senators running for president in 2020 might even pick up a little support for such a vote.
But, no, 44 of 47 Democrats voted against the bill, which would have required health care professionals, "in the case of an abortion or attempted abortion that results in a child born alive," to "exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age; and following the exercise of skill, care, and diligence required [would] ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital."
It additionally said a health care professional who "intentionally performs or attempts an overt act that kills a child born alive" would be fined or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
Voters who even might ponder voting for one of the senators running or considering running for president should take note of their vote on the bill: Cory Booker of New Jersey (no), Kirsten Gillibrand of New York (no), Kamala Harris of California (no), Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota (no), Bernie Sanders of Vermont (no) and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (no).
Three Democrats voted yes: staunch Catholic Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Doug Jones of red-state Alabama and moderate Joe Manchin of red-state West Virginia. All Republicans present voted yes.
The 53-44 tally fell seven votes short of achieving the 60 votes needed to officially end Democratic delaying tactics on the bill and proceed to a vote on the bill itself.
Prior to the vote, critics of the bill complained it "would end abortion" entirely. But they had not looked at the bill, which has nothing to do with abortion but only deals with the admittedly very rare case in which an abortion results in a child born alive.
The Born-Alive bill was filed by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, well before the Virginia governor's comments (and had been introduced in the last Congress as well), proving it was no stunt, but the speed in which the bill came to the floor - without going through committees - may have been geared to get the Democrats on record. Nevertheless, given recent actions in several states regarding late term abortions, it was timely.
A slightly different bill, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, passed the House and passed the Senate unanimously in 2002 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush. In essence, it defined a child who is born alive, but it said decisions still could continue to be made by medical professionals as to whether to resuscitate an infant based on medical efficacy.
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who wrote an opinion piece on the 2019 bill for Fox News, said "many Democrats demonstrated that their pro-choice stance also requires them to support infanticide" and that "their push to abort children reveals a hardened inner core that shocks the conscience."
On the other hand, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, reflected the tone deafness by many who voted against the measure by once again suggesting it was an "ongoing war on women's health."
No, the bill had nothing to do with women's health or women's right to choose an abortion. It simply wanted to protect the rare infant who, through misapplication of instruments or whatever reason, arrives alive. Sadly, many Democrats, in an effort to bow down to the god of abortion, couldn't even go along with that.
How could anyone, in 2020 or ever, vote for someone who didn't believe that child deserved protection? It is unconscionable.