There is no valid argument to not protect the life of a child born alive. This is why we march for life.
On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in the nation’s capital as part of the 45th March for Life. People from Virginia and across the country joined in a celebration of hope and compassion for those who do not yet have a voice. The March for Life marks an important date in the fight to protect the sanctity of life, falling annually on or near the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in the infamous case of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States.
Over the past year, the House of Representatives has passed several bills to protect the unborn, including measures to prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions and ban abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization, a point at which there is agreement that unborn children can feel pain. As the March for Life convened, the House passed another important bill to protect life.
Every year, there are babies that are born with beating hearts and breathing lungs during a procedure that was meant to terminate their lives. The
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act simply says that health care practitioners must exercise the same degree of professional care to preserve the life of the child born during an abortion procedure as they would render to any other child born alive. The bill also provides that the child must be immediately transported and admitted to a hospital. If a baby born alive is left to die, the penalty can be up to five years in jail. If the child is cut open for its body parts, or some other overt act is taken, the punishment is that for first degree murder. Those who would commit these crimes must be held accountable.
During consideration of this issue, the House Judiciary Committee heard direct testimony from Gianna Jessen, a woman whose medical records clearly state that she was born alive during an abortion procedure. Ms. Jessen testified: “Instead of dying…I was delivered alive in an abortion clinic in Los Angeles.” She continued, “Thankfully, the abortionist was not at work yet. Had he been there, he would have ended my life with strangulation, suffocation, or leaving me there to die…I was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, which was caused by a lack of oxygen to my brain while surviving the abortion. I was never supposed to hold my head up or walk. I do. And Cerebral Palsy is a great gift to me.”
Just think of that for a moment. Cerebral Palsy is a gift to her because it came with the gift of life. She forgave her mother long ago, and gives thanks each day for that gift of life, which she enjoys to its fullest to this day. The
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act should be passed through Congress and signed into law without delay so others can have the same chance to experience the gift of life as Ms. Jessen. This is why we march for life.
