The “Born-Alive” Baby Bill Disgrace

Last Monday, February 25, 2019, the U.S. Senate failed to get enough votes to pass the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” Only 3 Democrats broke ranks to vote with the Republicans. This resulted in a total of 53 votes for the bill. However, this was 7 votes short of the 60 votes required for passage. The 44 Democrats that voted against the bill includes every Democrat presently running for President in 2020. This was an absolute disgrace.

The bill was not radical. It simply required that born-alive babies be given the same medical attention that is given to other people. The bill differed from some previous legislation in that it contained penalties for doctors and medical professionals who refused to provide this care.

The bill was introduced because of the radical statements that were recently made by the Virginia Governor who suggested that if a botched abortion resulted in a live birth, the mother and medical personnel would decide whether or not to provide care for it or let it die. This would constitute a post-birth-abortion. This is as close to infanticide as it gets.

I regularly see news articles about people who face legal charges for neglecting to care for a dog or a cat but these US Senators just voted against providing life-saving care for a human infant. When given the opportunity to save a living baby these Senators voted no. A conscience so calloused that it lacks the compunction to save a new-born baby certainly feels no compunction to help others. Their motives are laid bare. They are only interested in acquiring political power and they cannot risk voting for anything that might upset their pro-abortion base. This is why the Democrats voted as they did on the born-alive bill.

Some people may think that they can exculpate themselves by the notion that they are not directly inflicting harm to these babies but are only “allowing nature to take its course” by allowing these babies to simply die. However, it should be noted that every baby would die if left alone following birth! Babies are immediately dependent upon their mothers or someone to care for them. They require the help of others to survive. Their survival depends upon the caring and compassionate consciences of others. Sadly, this is precisely what some people lack. Some people are “without natural affection” (Romans 1:31). Or as the English Standard Versions states it, they are heartless. This certainly includes mothers who abort their babies, but it also includes legislators and medical professionals whose policies kill helpless babies. (Those who attempt to defend themselves by saying that their policies do not advocate the killing of babies, but only“allowing” them to die, do not factor in how vulnerable new born infants are! Refusing to save them is in effect killing them.)

The Bible says, “Can a mother forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, but I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). The natural tendency is for a mother to have compassion for her child. It is unnatural to deliberately withhold care for babies and allow them to die. It is more than just inhumane — it is godless, and godlessness will eventually suffocate a nation (Proverbs 14:34).

We are learning that the pro-abortion mentality has a cancerous effect. Certain people have accepted the consequences of their position, which has now led them to accept the killing of live babies. At first, they defended killing babies just in the 1st trimester of pregnancy. It then advanced to the 2nd trimester, then to the 3rd. Their position has now led them to accept the killing of a live baby as long as it was the mother’s intent to abort that baby. But what will be next? Will they eventually accept the killing of babies in cases where the mother changes her mind about wanting the baby? What if she changes her mind 2, 4 or 6 years later? Will pro-abortionists argue that the mother has the right to make that decision then?

This is an abomination. So far, this is only a theoretical debate in which some pro-abortionists claim the right to allow certain born-alive babies to die. However, what if people actually begin to practice what they are now verbally defending? What if our legislators become so godless that born-alive babies cease to be saved? Or worse, what if they are killed by direct action? At that point people of conscience will have to rise up and take action. No society can survive that allows the most vulnerable of its members to go unprotected. Murder unpunished by society can only be expiated by the death of that society.

—Tim Haile