Republicans File Discharge Petition to Bypass Nancy Pelosi for a Vote to Stop Infanticide

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Apr 2, 2019   |   2:06PM   |   Washington, DC

After Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats blocked a vote on a bill to stop infanticide for the 25th time, Republicans filed a discharge petition demanding the bill be allowed a vote on the House floor.

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise and Representative Ann Wagner told LifeNews today that they will move forward a discharge petition. That’s a petition any member of Congress can sign to allow legislation to move out of committee and to the House floor when the party controlling Congress refuses to allow a vote on it.

“We brought a bill forward, H.R. 962 , the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. This a bill that many wonder why is it even necessary that we need a law to say that if a baby is born alive outside of the womb we need to give it the full protections under law? Many people ask why is it that they aren’t already protected?” Scalise said.

“If a baby is born alive, it should have the full protections of anybody else. Yet as we see in states like New York and other states around the country they allow in those states the baby, even after it’s born alive, to be killed. To me that’s murder,” he added.

“I will be joining my colleague, Ann Wagner, the lead author of this bill, to start a discharge petition, an opportunity for every member of Congress to make their voices heard loud and clear that this bill ought to come to this floor for a full debate and ultimately for a vote. We ought to pass this law. There should be no doubt, shouldn’t be a partisan issue, shouldn’t be an issue that we have disagreement over, yet we do. For whatever reason the Speaker will not allow this bill to come up for a vote,” he added.

“We have tried time after time to move unanimous consent to bring this bill to the floor, and for months that motion has been denied. The most vulnerable among us should no longer be denied that protection under law. Mr. Speaker, this bill has to come up for a vote,” he continued. “We will start the process today to ensure that that full debate happens and ultimately that the vote happens to pass the Born Alive Act. I urge all my colleagues to sign on to this discharge petition.”

SIGN THE PETITION: Stop Infanticide! Stop Abortions Up to Birth!

If a majority of representatives sign the petition, it will force a vote by the full House — and that is something pro-life groups are asking members of Congress to do.

Representatives of pro-life groups joined lawmakers this morning at a press conference to request signatures. Present at the press conference were three abortion survivors: Melissa Ohden, Claire Culwell, and Gianna Jessen; Susan B. Anthony List’s National Campaign Chair Jill Stanek; and Dr. Christina Francis, board chair of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and an associate scholar with SBA List’s research arm Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Stanek, a former nurse who witnessed babies being born alive and left to die, said, “Little abortion survivors desperately need Congress to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, to provide them with legal and medical protections and not leave open the decision whether they live or die.”

SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser added: “Shame on Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats for repeatedly refusing to allow a vote on this compassionate, common-ground bill. Seventy-seven (77) percent of voters nationwide want Congress to protect babies who survive failed abortions, but Democratic Party leaders have doubled down on extremism.
Dannenfelser continued: “Their agenda is radically out of step even within their own rank and file. We thank Whip Scalise and our pro-life House allies for showing heroic leadership in the face of ongoing obstruction. We urge all members of Congress to sign the petition. The American people deserve to know where their representatives stand on infanticide.”

Republicans would need all GOP members to sign the petition, along with 21 Democrats. Rodgers said she hoped polling data showing Americans strongly oppose infanticide would help change members’ minds.

The blocking of a vote on a bill to stop infanticide come even as national polling shows Americans — including people who are “pro-choice” on abortion — oppose abortion up to birth and infanticide. And doctors indicate abortions are never needed to protect a woman’s health and women admit having abortions on healthy babies.

And a new poll finds a massive 17 percent shift in the pro-life direction after Democrats have pushed abortions up to birth and infanticide nationally.

H.R. 962, introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), ensures that a baby born alive after a failed or attempted abortion receives the same medical care as any other newborn. It would also penalize doctors who allow such infants to die or who intentionally kill a newborn following a failed abortion.

Every single Democrat in the Senate who is running for president voted against a bill that would stop infanticide and provide medical care and treatment for babies who are born alive after botched abortions. That includes Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Amy Klobuchar.

While they all voted to support infanticide, President Trump spoke out against infanticide in two tweets saying that it’s nothing short of “executing” babies to let them die after failed abortions.

ACTION: Contact members of Congress and urge them to sign the Discharge Petition to bring the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to the House floor for a vote.