House Passes 'Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection' Bill

WASHINGTON— The U.S. House of Representatives voted on and passed the pro-Life Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R.21) by a vote total of 217-204, with 11 members not voting, and just a single “Present” vote.

That sole "Present" vote was cast by Rep. Vincent Gonzalez (D) from Texas.

The legislative measure states that if a baby survives an attempted abortion, any healthcare practitioner present must act to “preserve the life and health of the child.

“Any health care practitioner present at the time the child is born alive shall—

“(A) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age…”(Born Alive Act)

In addition, if a “health care practitioner” fails or refuses to “exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion,” he or she will be subject to imprisonment of 5 years or fined, or both.

With Senate Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, and with President Donald Trump aggressively asserting his “America First Agenda” day after being sworn into office, there is a very reasonable probability that the Born Alive bill will be signed into law by the President in the coming weeks.

Texas lawmakers voted down political party lines with House Democrats, except for Rep. Henry Cuellar,  voted against the bill, while House Republicans voted in favor of it.

Here is how Arizona lawmakers voted:

YEA—Reps. Eli Crane, Andy Biggs, David Schweikert, Abraham Hamadeh, Paul Gosar,  and Juan Ciscomani.

NAY— Reps.Yasamin Ansari, Greg Stanton, and Raul Grijalva