The Republican leaders from the House of Representatives convened outside of the United States Capitol Building on Wednesday. While they were there, they announced their strategy to take anti-infanticide legislation to the House floor. The House Democrats have already rejected a vote for the bill 17 times.
GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney told the crowd: “There are some issues you really can’t believe that you have to have a debate about and this is certainly one of those. The idea that we would not protect babies after they are born — the idea that we have one party now in this Congress that refuses to put a bill on the floor to stop infanticide — it’s really unbelievable.”
Accompanied by six of her Republican colleagues and pro-life activists, Cheney rebuked the Democrats for avoiding to vote for the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act 17 times. The Protection Act would require that babies who survive abortion to receive medical care. A comparable bill failed in the Senate in February with a vote of 53 to 44.
In an attempt to circumvent the Democrats’ refusal to bring the bill from committee to the House floor, minority whip Steve Scalise made the announcement that a discharge petition would be ready in the following weeks. The discharge petition would allow the House to make a vote with only an absolute majority.
Scalise said: “I’m calling on every member of Congress to sign the discharge petition when it ripens in a few weeks so that we can bring this bill to the floor, have this debate where all the country can see that this process, this grisly process, barbaric process of murdering babies when they are born alive is legal in many states and, in fact, needs to be stopped.”
On Tuesday, Mike Johnson, the Republican Representative from Louisiana, requested for unanimous consent in order to vote for the bill, but of course, the Democrats ruled that the request was out of order. Johnson’s microphone was immediately cut off after he attempted to continue to speak.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is not about Republicans or Democrats — this is about life. This is about a child who survives an abortion, just the same as any newborn being able to survive. They need care,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
“We shouldn’t have to be talking about this, but we look at what’s moving across the country, the extreme of what the Democrats have moved to,” continued McCarthy.
“Last night on the floor, for the 17th time, we asked to bring up the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. For the 17th Time, the Democrats refused. Every time, those in the chair say it’s not agreed upon on both sides. There’s no objection on the Republican side to bring the bill up, it’s only on one side,” McCarthy continued.
Once the news conference was finished, Rep. Brad Wenstrup from Ohio tried to offer the unanimous consent request for the House to consider the Born Alive Bill, but it was rejected for the 18th time in a row. The House Republicans will apparently be asking the Democrats again on Thursday.
