It would seem to be common sense for most Americans that, when an infant survives an attempted abortion, efforts should be made to save that newborn life.

Yet, shockingly, all House Democrats but one voted "No" on a bill that would require life-saving measures for a baby born alive after an abortion, according to Fox News.

The measure nonetheless passed the House on Thursday with a 217-204 vote. However, a similar bill failed to advance in the Senate on a procedural vote on Wednesday after all 47 Senate Democrats likewise voted against protecting infants who survive an attempted abortion.

Nearly all House Dems vote against protecting abortion survivors

H.R. 21, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, was introduced on the first day of the new Congress and, just three weeks later, was swiftly guided through a series of procedural moves and brought to the House floor for a brief debate and final vote.

The bill mandates that any "health care practitioner" present when an infant survives an abortion must "exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age," and "ensure that the child born alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital."

The legislation makes mandatory the reporting to authorities of any known violations, which could result in a fine and up to five years in prison, but bars any prosecution against the mother and further grants the mother a right to pursue civil action against violators.

Democrats argued that the bill was redundant and unnecessary, was unfair to abortionists, and could pose risks to the lives of mothers, while Republicans countered that babies who survive abortions are people with rights who deserve to be protected and shouldn't be discarded with trash and left to die alone.

"Requiring medical care for babies born alive after a failed abortion isn’t controversial, it’s common sense," House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Fox News. "The fact that Democrats would rather support infanticide than vote in favor of this bill shows how extreme and out-of-touch their party has become."

Senate Dems blocked a final vote on similar bill

Sadly, just one day earlier, The Hill reported that all 47 Senate Democrats voted against a procedural move by their Republican colleagues to invoke cloture and end debate on a similar bill, denying the GOP the 60 votes necessary to advance the legislation to a final vote.

Similar arguments were made for and against the bill, with Democrats focusing on the relative rarity of babies surviving an abortion attempt -- as if the seldomness of such occurrences somehow negates the need to address the few heartbreaking instances that do happen.

"We should all be able to agree that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion must be protected, and yet I fully expect that later today my Democrat colleagues will vote no on this legislation," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said. "They will vote against protection for a living, breathing newborn baby simply because that child has been born alive after an attempted abortion."

Trump signals his support for the bill

Meanwhile, President Trump's White House issued a "statement of administration policy" on Thursday that signaled support for H.R. 21 and congratulated House Republicans for their "efforts to protect the most vulnerable and prevent infanticide."

"As President Trump established through Executive Order 13952 of September 25, 2020, it is the policy of the United States to recognize the human dignity and inherent worth of every newborn or other infant child, regardless of prematurity or disability, and to ensure for each child due protection under the law," the statement continued.

"A baby that survives an abortion and is born alive into this world should be treated just like any other baby born alive. H.R. 21 would properly amend current law to ensure that the life of one baby is not treated as being more or less valuable than another," the White House added. "If H.R. 21 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend he sign it into law."