Ernst Votes to Protect Lives of Children Born After Failed Abortions

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a longtime and outspoken pro-life advocate, today voted in support of legislation to protect the lives of children born-alive after a failed abortion. While Senator Ernst voted in support of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, ultimately Democrats forced it to fail.

“Today, we had the opportunity to categorically reject infanticide. I am heartbroken to find that, instead, partisanship prevailed. We face a moral crisis when the United States Senate, the world’s greatest deliberative body, refuses to acknowledge the repugnancy and savagery of infanticide. We must do better. I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our laws respect the human dignity of all persons, especially our most vulnerable babies and children,” said Senator Joni Ernst.

Background:

Senator Ernst is an original cosponsor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. This bill requires health care practitioners to provide the same degree of care to a baby who survives an abortion as they would any child born naturally premature at the same age.

While legislation from 2002, known as the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), recognizes and defines any child who has survived a botched abortion as a full person under the law, these protections are only partially effective without concrete federal enforcement measures. Specifically, BAIPA lacks concrete ways to hold abortionists accountable for killing, harvesting organs, or denying medical care to infants born alive. Additionally, reports show that some abortion providers still do not regard babies born alive during abortions as persons and therefore do not provide them with the types of care that would be provided to infants who are spontaneously born prematurely.

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