New Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew has not voted pro-life during his congressional career. But the Democrat, who switched parties after Democrats voted to impeach President Donald Trump, will support pro-life legislation for the first time.
In 2019, Van Drew didn’t vote pro-life on abortion-related legislation even one time and he was never listed as a co-sponsor of the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation that would stop infanticide and provide medical care and treatment for babies who survive abortions.
But 2020 is a new year.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have refused to allow a vote on the bill 80 times. As a response, Republican Whip Steve Scalise and Representative Ann Wagner moved forward with a discharge petition to force Speaker Pelosi to schedule a vote. 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.
So far, 203 members have signed on, including three Democrats — short of the majority necessary to get the bill to the floor for a vote. Now, Rep. Van Drew will add his name to the list.
“The New Jersey freshman — who was a Democrat up until late last month — will sign a GOP discharge petition today that would circumvent leadership and force a floor vote on anti-abortion legislation if it gets 218 signatures, his office confirmed to your Huddle host. His name will bring the total number of signatures to 204,” Politico reports. “The move will be one of Van Drew’s first legislative acts since he officially joined the Republican party. There have been a lot of questions about whether — and how — Van Drew would fit in with the GOP, since he has overwhelmingly voted with Democrats since being elected to Congress, including on abortion rights. The “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” — which would require infants who survive attempted abortions to receive medical care — has three Democratic cosponsors, but Van Drew was not one of them.”
SIGN THE PETITION: Stop Infanticide! Stop Abortions Up to Birth!
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a leading House member, discussed the discharge petition in a recent interview with the Daily Signal.
“It’s just heartbreaking. I was disheartened by the vote, 44 senators that voted against legislation that would protect babies who were born alive, babies that had survived an abortion, were outside the womb, and yet they were not willing to bring in the insurer under law that they would bring in the doctor’s care,” she said. “In years past, this is passed with unanimous consent in the Senate. So it really exposed the extreme position that the left is taking right now, that Democrats are saying they reject legislation to protect babies born alive.”
“In the House, we are moving forward with a discharge petition. As you know, the Democrats have the majority in the House. One way that we can bring a bill to the floor is to demand a discharge petition,” she added. “You have to get 218 people to sign a discharge petition, and then you can bypass Speaker Nancy Pelosi and bring the bill directly to the floor. We’re working actively on that right now.”
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, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, 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.
