Senator Ernst on Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) released the following statement after the Senate failed to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that would prohibit abortion after about five months post-fertilization, the point in development that science has shown unborn children can feel pain:

“At five months, we know that babies can yawn, make faces, wiggle their ten fingers and ten toes, and feel pain. At just five months gestation, Micah Pickering from Newton, Iowa proved that a baby this small is so full of life.

“The United States is only one of seven countries that allows abortions after about five months, putting us in the company of countries like China and North Korea. I am deeply saddened by the outcome of today’s vote and that some of my colleagues chose to stand with North Korea instead of innocent life. I cannot believe this is who we want to be as a nation.

“I will continue to fight for these babies until they are given the life full of opportunity that they too deserve.”

Senator Ernst has been a strong voice of the pro-life movement, and just last year, championed legislation that was signed into law by President Trump that overturned an eleventh-hour rule issued by the Obama administration, and restored decisions about the best eligible Title X providers to the states.

The Iowa Senator has also led the fight to safeguard taxpayer funds for women’s health care by redirecting them from Planned Parenthood, which is the nation’s single largest provider of abortion, to other eligible entities like community health centers, which provide greater health care services but do not provide abortions.

Senator Ernst delivered remarks from the Senate floor today urging her colleagues to support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Watch her full remarks here.