77 Percent of Voters Want Congress to Protect Babies Born-Alive

A pro-life advocacy group, Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), released a new poll that showed 77 percent of likely general election voters say they want Congress to protect babies who are born alive.

Those voters support legislation to ensure that a baby who survives a failed abortion receives the same medical treatment as any other baby born prematurely at the same age. According to the poll, 55 percent of likely general election voters strongly support such legislation.

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) has introduced legislation, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and it has 48 co-sponsors in the Senate.

Senate Democrats, led by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) blocked a motion for unanimous consent to pass a similar bill sponsored by Sasse last week.

“This isn’t about Republicans or Democrats. We’re way beyond that Everyone in the Senate ought to be able to say unequivocally that the little baby deserves life. That she has rights, and that killing her is wrong,” Sasse said speaking about his motion last week on the Senate floor.

House Democrats have blocked attempts to pass the House version of the bill by unanimous consent on four different occasions. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-Missouri) plan to force a floor vote on the House version of the bill introduced by Wagner.

Discharge petitions require at least 218 signatures to force a floor vote. With only holding 197 seats, for the discharge petition to be successful, Republicans would need 21 Democrats to sign on. Discharge petitions can only be considered on the second and fourth Mondays of the month when the House is in session.

“I have been horrified to watch radical Democratic legislators argue that babies who survive abortions should not be given the same level of medical care that all other newborn babies receive.” Wagner said. “Congress must act to protect those who cannot protect themselves. That is why I introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which merely ensures that babies who survive abortions receive immediate, lifesaving care—just as any other baby would. To my colleagues, this is the simplest vote you will ever take: either you support babies being killed after they are born or you don’t. It is time to go on the record and make clear if you think babies born alive deserve medical care, or if you think they should be left to die.”

“Innocent life must be defended and protected at every stage, and that includes babies born alive during an abortion. We must immediately extend legal protections to these vulnerable newborns and prosecute any doctor who would leave them to die,” Scalise said.

There is bipartisan support for this kind of legislation. Support was strongest among Republicans with 86 percent of who support a bill like that with only 7 percent of Republican voters opposing such a bill. Among Democrats, 70 percent say they support protecting babies who survive abortions with only 14 percent who said they oppose such a bill. Among independents, 77 percent say they would support such a bill with only six percent who are opposed.

There is also strong support among men and women. Seventy-nine percent of male voters say they support legislation to protect babies born alive with only 8 percent who oppose. Seventy-five percent of female voters support this particular legislation with only 10 percent opposed.

“Americans overwhelmingly reject the Democratic Party’s extreme agenda of abortion on demand through birth and even beyond. Three in four voters agree babies born alive during a failed abortion should be protected in law, and nearly two-thirds oppose efforts to allow late-term abortion even at the moment of delivery, like those in Virginia and New York,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Democrats’ obstruction of compassionate legislation to protect these vulnerable children exposes them as the party of infanticide and shows how radically out of step they are with the American people. We urge both chambers of Congress to bring this bill to the floor for a recorded vote. Voters deserve to know where their legislators stand. Abortion extremists who betray their constituents will be held accountable at the ballot box.”

President Donald Trump, during his State of the Union address last week, criticized New York’s expansive new abortion law and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s (D) recent comments defending infanticide:

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 before birth.  These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world.  And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.

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. 

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.

Also during his remarks, Trump called on Congress to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, also called Micah’s Law. That bill bans abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization on the basis that the unborn child is capable of feeling pain at that point in his or her development.

SBA List’s poll also found that 62 percent of likely general election voters oppose any legislation that allows late-term abortions.

Those polled were asked, “There has been a lot of news about late-term abortions recently. Some legislation would allow late term abortions – even up to the point when a woman is in labor. Do you support or oppose legislation that would allow these late term abortions?”

Republicans overwhelmingly oppose legislation allowing late-term abortions 71 percent to 23 percent. Independents also strongly oppose such legislation 70 percent to 21 percent. A plurality of Democrat voters also opposes late-term abortions 48 percent to 41 percent. Both men and women oppose legislation permitting late-term abortions. Fifty-nine percent of men said they opposed such legislation while 31 percent said they supported it. Sixty-five percent of women polled said they opposed late-term abortions while 26 percent said they would support legislation allowing it.

McLaughlin & Associates conducted the survey of 1,000 likely general election voters nationwide between February 6 and 10, 2019. All interviews were conducted online; survey invitations were distributed randomly within predetermined geographic units. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout nationwide in a general election. The sample of 1,000 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.