UNITED STATES—On Wednesday, September 23, during the Catholic National Prayer Breakfast Virtual event, President Donald Trump announced he signed an Executive Order protecting the lives of infants born alive during the act of abortion.
“Today, I am announcing that I will be signing the Born-Alive Executive Order to ensure that all the precious babies born alive, no matter their circumstances, receive the medical care they deserve. This is our sacrosanct moral duty,” said President Trump.
The Executive Order addresses what happens to infants born alive during abortion secures protections for the infants who may have been left to die. Some nurses and medical health workers have previously had their jobs placed in jeopardy if they choose to help a crying baby left to die.
The Born Alive Infant Protection Act was repeatedly introduced by Congress, but has yet to become law. The bill stalled in the House of Representatives in 2019-2020 due to an insufficient number of members willing to sign the petition to lead to a vote.
According to reports, a complaint filed in May 2018, a Catholic nurse asked to go assist the care of a woman who was having a miscarriage. The nurse previously made it known that she never wanted to assist in an elective abortion. The nurse who ended up in the room to assist was told by the doctor allegedly, “Don’t hate me.”
Jill Stanek told Susan B. Anthony List how she became a pro-life activist after rocking a baby that was left to die on a shelf after being born-alive during an abortion.
During the last attempt to pass this bill into law on January 19, 2018, Roby from the state of Alabama explained that the bill “states that, if a baby is born alive after a failed abortion, he or she must be given the same exact medical care that would be given to any other baby. I know we will continue to play politics about when life begins and argue about the point at which the law should step in to protect it. And while I understand that not everyone agrees with my strong pro-life stance, I cannot fathom how any person could be opposed to legislation that protects babies who are so alive that you can look them in the eye.”
The House of Representatives voted to pass the Born Alive Infant Protection Act 241-183 with every single Republican voting in favor of the bill. Six Democrats voted against the bill with the exception of Colin Peterson and Matt Walz of Minnesota, Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania.
