A pro-life Republican senator blocked pro-abortion Democrats on Wednesday from passing a bill to shield abortionists from prosecution in pro-life states that protect unborn babies.
Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana blocked Democrats’ attempt Wednesday to pass legislation that would protect abortionists who do illegal aboritons in pro-life states that protect babies. Democrats hoped to approve the bill by unanimous consent, but Braun blocked the bill.
The real purpose of the pro-abortion legislation sponsored by Senator Patty Murray of Washington appears to be to protect abortionists and abortion activists. It would prevent the criminal prosecution of abortionists and those who help them if they travel to abort unborn babies in violation of state pro-life laws. It also would ban states from punishing pro-abortion groups that provide travel costs and arrangements for women in pro-life states to go to pro-abortion states to abort their unborn babies.
After Braun objected to Murray’s request for unanimous consent to pass the bill, the Washington senator vowed that Democrats will continue to “fight for the right to an abortion” and for “doctors who are doing their jobs and doing what is best for their patients.”
Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma blocked the bill previously on a separate request to bring it up on the Senate floor.
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“There’s a child in this conversation as well,” Lankford said on the Senate floor. “Does that child in the womb have the right to travel in their future? Do they get to live?”
Lankford said the bill creates workarounds to shield the abortion industry and abortionists from laws that protect unborn babies’ lives. He also refuted false claims from Democrats that abortion bans punish women.
“There is a child in this conversation, and maybe this body should pay attention to children as well, and to wonder what their future could be to travel in the days ahead …” he told the Senate. “I look forward to the day when we are talking more about that little girl and less about misinformation. I object.”
In May, pro-life leaders representing 70 organizations issued a joint statement opposing the punishment of women who have abortions. Pro-life advocates believe women are second victims of the abortion industry, often mislead, pressured or even forced to abort their unborn babies.
“So who should be held accountable? The answer is the abortionist — the one killing the baby in the first place,” the pro-life leaders wrote. “And if abortionists are held criminally liable for the babies they illegally kill under an abortion ban (and abortion pill sellers are held criminally liable for selling dangerous abortion drugs) then the supply of abortions ends.”
In the historic Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling on June 24, the Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to protect unborn babies from abortion again. Thirteen already have done so, although some have been blocked by court orders, and more state are expected to enact pro-life laws in the coming weeks.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates more than 120,000 unborn babies are being saved from abortion as a result of the pro-life laws currently in place.
