Watch: Trump Calls for Ban on Late-Term Abortion, Democrats Sit Stone-Faced
A call for Congress to ban late-term abortion by President Trump during his State of the Union speech Tuesday was met with cold stares from the Democratic side of the aisle as Republicans applauded.
The president’s call came during a week when abortions were the subject of considerable news coverage after Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam made comments on the issue that critics said called for terminating the lives of already-born children.
“I am also proud to be the first president to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave — so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child,” the president said in his remarks.
“There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days.
“Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth,” he continued. “These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world.
“And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia, where he stated he would execute a baby after birth,” he continued.
“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” Trump added, garnering massive applause from the GOP side of the room.
Meanwhile, with the exception of several Democrats — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin among them — the other side of the room sat stone-faced.
President Trump: “To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb” https://t.co/TreW1lnqhZ #SOTU pic.twitter.com/tykYQ9umnz
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 6, 2019
“Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth — all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God,” the president added.
The president was referring to New York’s Reproductive Health Act, a bill which was signed Jan. 22 — the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade — by New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
In a press release, the governor’s office said that the bill “codifies Roe v. Wade into New York State law.” However, it also made it legal to abort a child after 24 weeks if “there is an absence of fetal viability, or at any time when necessary to protect a patient’s life or health.”
The state would subsequently light up several monuments, including One World Trade Center, pink in honor of the legislation.
The president also referenced the remarks by Northam. Responding to a bill which would legalize abortion up until the point of birth, Northam said that “if the 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 this is what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother.”
Northam would subsequently be caught up in a scandal involving a photograph of a man in blackface and a man wearing a KKK uniform in his medical school yearbook.
While defending the right to third-trimester abortion may be popular among Democratic politicians, voters in general tend to overwhelmingly oppose such procedures.
A 2018 Gallup poll found 81 percent of Americans thought third-trimester abortions ought to be illegal; another 65 percent thought second-trimester abortions should be illegal as well. A Marist poll released in January also found that 59 percent of percent of Americans were in favor of banning abortion after 20 weeks.
CORRECTION: This article was published in a breaking email Tuesday night with the headline, “Trump Calls For Late-Term Abortion, Dems Show Their True Colors With DISGUSTING Response.” That title should have read, “Trump Calls For Late-Term Abortion Ban, Dems Show Their True Colors With DISGUSTING Response,” but “Ban” was left out accidentally, leading to a highly misleading headline.
We apologize for the error.
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