News Releases
Sen. Moran Speaks on Senate Floor Regarding Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
Feb 26 2019
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) spoke on the Senate floor regarding legislation he cosponsored and voted in favor of, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, that the Senate failed to advance. Despite receiving bipartisan support, the legislation failed to receive the 60 votes needed to break the Democratic filibuster. The final roll call vote was 53-44.
“I am astonished we’re debating whether it’s appropriate to leave born children to die,” said Sen. Moran. “One child purposely deprived of healthcare is one too many. It is infanticide.”
Click Here to Watch Sen. Moran’s Full Remarks
Remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to join so many of my colleagues to speak in support of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. I thank Senator Sasse for his continued leadership on this issue. I supported this bill when Senator Sasse introduced it last Congress, and I am glad Leader McConnell has brought this to a vote.
“I am astonished that we’re debating whether it’s appropriate to leave born children to die, today, in the year 2019. Science demonstrates that human life begins at conception, and our understanding of neonatal development is increasing by the day.
“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Health this is one of my top priorities in Congress. At the NIH, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has advanced our knowledge of pregnancy and development in the womb. Under this institute, the Neonatal Research Network has pioneered research that has led to techniques that save the lives of children in their earliest stages, when these children are at their most vulnerable.
“The Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 10,000 babies are aborted each year after 20 weeks of conception, when science tells us an unborn child can feel pain inside the womb. That number will increase as a result of recent state-level efforts to end virtually any restrictions on abortion when a child could viably live outside of the womb. These efforts are extreme and fall far beyond the mainstream of American opinion.
“This legislation does nothing to limit a prenatal abortion. And while we must address the root causes of abortion and ways to curb this heartbreaking trend, that’s not the issue at hand today.
“The question before us today is this: When a child survives an abortion and is born, does the United States Senate believe the child can still be eliminated or should the baby be protected and given all possible care to survive?
“This act requires health care practitioners to “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.”
“Any negligence in this regard is subject to criminal and civil punishment, which, at present, does not exist. And should anyone think this is some made-up issue – despite the shocking comments of Virginia’s governor revealing an openness to infanticide, and New York’s expansion of abortion well past the stage of viability that makes born-alive abortion survivors more likely – we have concrete evidence this grotesque act happens: notorious abortion provider Kermit Gosnell is serving life in prison for these very acts.
“Closing our eyes to what is obscene does not make it any less real. That it is allegedly “rare” doesn’t make it any less real or abhorrent.
“One child purposely deprived of health care and allowed to die is one too many. It is infanticide.
“Which brings us to the crux of this issue. We need to think carefully about the long-term impacts to the definition of health care if Congress refuses to act positively on this measure. Do the guard rails of neonatal health succumb the belief that infants don’t really count as one of us?
“Our society is not one of the ancient Romans or the Aztecs. We don’t sacrifice our children to please an unknown god. In the progress of human history, principles of the Enlightenment—also known as the Age of Reason—declared self-evident truths that all humans are created equal and endowed with the unalienable right to life. Though undoubtedly, we have our flaws, these Enlightenment principles enshrined in our founding documents remain true to who we are as a nation and society. We recoil when we hear of children who are harmed in any manner. Yet today we’re faced with a reality where the ability to terminate an unborn child’s life when it is viable outside of the womb is something that is not only tolerated, but passionately defended by many on the Left.
“That’s bad enough, but to see legislation ensuring the medical care of born children get blocked is incomprehensible. The immutable march of progress in human history has met a roadblock in the United States Senate. The Age of Reason has passed us by.
“Tonight, the Senate had an opportunity to send a message showing who we are as leaders and as a society as a whole—one that protects the weak and the voiceless, instead of one that permits their destruction. I regret the Senate failed a fundamental test.
“I am eager to do more to protect innocent life, including the unborn, but the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act provided us an opportunity to affirm the most basic need for health care for a vulnerable child who has already beaten the odds to survive. Let’s hope we have another opportunity to give these children the chance at life that they deserve.”
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