Ben Sasse Rips Into 99 Senators over Infanticide: 'This Shouldn’t Be Complicated'
Stung by a proposed Virginia law that its supporters have said would allow abortion up until the moment of birth, Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse has launched a pro-life offensive by calling for the adoption of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
As reported by The Western Journal, Democratic Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran has proposed legislation that would allow an abortion right up until the moment a baby is about to be born.
After a firestorm of protest greeted public debate on the bill, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, elected with the support of Planned Parenthood, issued statements supporting the bill that infuriated pro-life supporters, as reported by The Western Journal.
Sasse addressed the Senate on Thursday. The text of his speech was posted on his Senate website, and the text of his proposed law is also available online.
Sasse noted that he was using two Senate procedures to move his proposal to the floor as fast as possible, and called for all senators to take a stand.
“I also want senators to be aware that on Monday evening I’m going to be asking unanimous consent for senators to come to the floor and pass an abortion survivors protection act, an abortion survivors born-alive piece of legislation. I’m going to ask all 100 senators to come to the floor and be against infanticide. This shouldn’t be complicated,” Sasse said.
Sasse made it clear in his speech that the bill was a reaction to liberals’ celebration of abortion that surrounded the proposed Virginia law.
“This place fancies itself the world’s greatest deliberative body, but we would be deceiving ourselves if we ignored the biggest debate that’s been happening in America over the last 36 hours. A public elected official — the Governor of one of the 50 states — has been defending a practice that is morally repugnant. The Governor of Virginia has been defending a practice that is repugnant to civilized people across the entire world,” he said.
Sasse then shared what he called an “ugly nugget” from Northam’s defense of Tran’s legislation.
“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam said, as reported by Fox News.
Northam has stood by his comments.
Sasse said that Northam’s words boil down to support for something most of civilization finds hideous.
“Let’s be really clear about what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about fourth trimester abortion – or what anyone in the normal world calls infanticide. That’s what we’re talking about and the Governor of Virginia has been defending this all day yesterday and again today. Going out and trying to equivocate and qualify and then double down and again say he wants to defend his practice – which is infanticide,” Sasse said.
Sen Ben Sasse is calling for expedited consideration in the US Senate of the Born Alive #Abortion Survivors Act. Will be interesting to see what the #Democrats have to say, since these bills in the states allowing abortion up to & after birth are all coming from #Dems! #Prolife
— Fr. Frank Pavone ?? (@frfrankpavone) January 31, 2019
Sasse drove home what Northam’s meaning was to him.
“We’re talking about killing a baby that’s been born. We’re not talking about some euphemism, we’re not talking about a clump of cells. We’re talking about a little baby girl whose been born and is on a table in a hospital or a medical facility and then a decision or a debate would be had about whether or not you could kill that little baby,” he said.
“We’re talking about the most vulnerable among us and we have a public official in America out there again and again defending a practice. This is infanticide that we’re talking about. This should be so far beyond any political consideration. We’re talking about a little baby. A baby with dignity. An image bearer. We’re talking about a tiny life that has done nothing wrong to warrant being left to die cold and alone on a table,” Sasse said.
Sasse said regardless of their political leanings, all members of the Senate should agree that a line has been crossed.
“Everyone in the Senate ought to be able to say unequivocally that killing that little baby is wrong. This doesn’t take any political courage. And, if you can’t say that, if there’s a member of this body that can’t say that, there may be lots of work you can do in the world but you shouldn’t be here. You should get the heck out of any calling in public life where you pretend to care about the most vulnerable among us,” he said.
“There should be no politics here that are right vs. left, or Republican vs. Democrat. This is the most basic thing you could be talking about. We’re talking about a little baby born alive and we have a public official in America defending the idea ‘Well, you could have a debate about killing her,'” Sasse said.
Sasse added that America needs to know where every senator stands.
“That’s why today, I’m starting a dual-track legislative process to make sure that this body has a clear-eyed look at the issue before us, has a clear-eyed look at this atrocity, and to make sure the 320 million men and women — who are actually our bosses — to be sure they have a clear-eyed look at what we stand for.”
“Do we stand with those little, vulnerable babies in desperate need of care and comfort and support, medical treatment, food? Or do we stand with the comments with the Governor of Virginia over the last two days?” Sasse asked.
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