It's now "extreme" if you think a baby who survives an abortion should get medical care instead of being left to die outside the mother's womb--at least, if you are Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer.
Pelosi and Schumer--the leaders of their party in Congress--melted down on Wednesday after the House passed the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act 220-210, with Pelosi calling it Republicans' "extreme anti-choice agenda."
Pelosi tweeted,
Today, instead of joining Democrats to condemn all political violence, @HouseGOP chose to push their extreme anti-choice agenda.
Democrats believe everyone deserves the freedom to access reproductive health services – without fear of violence, intimidation or harassment.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 11, 2023
Schumer chimed in, "The MAGA Republican-controlled House is putting on display their extreme views on women’s health with legislation that does not even have the support of the American people."
And Vice President Kamala Harris agreed, accusing Republicans of wanting to "control women's bodies."
House Republicans passed an extreme bill today that will further jeopardize the right to reproductive health care in our country.
This is yet another attempt by Republican legislators to control women's bodies.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 12, 2023
The bill was introduced because of reports that babies who survived late-term abortions were often left to die after the procedure. It requires medical personnel to provide medical care to babies who are still living after doctors perform an abortion.
Situations where babies survive abortions are morally complex, because the woman intended, however legally, to kill the child. When the baby leaves the womb, however, it typically has a whole new set of protections that raise ethical and moral questions for the woman, her doctors, and society at large.
What should happen to a baby who survives an abortion? Does the mother still have rights to it after trying to kill it? Should it become a ward of the state, available for adoption?
And if it gains the right to life the moment it leaves the womb, how legal should it even be to abort it in the first place? Isn't that really tantamount to infanticide?
Furthermore, who could really think it's the right thing to allow a baby who has just been born to die without giving them medical care? Doesn't that seem like a barbaric and monstrous thing to do in 21st century America, no matter the circumstances of their birth?
Democrats like Pelosi and Schumer do not want to confront any of these questions or implications, so they just grandstand about how "extreme" it is to protect human life and how Republicans want to control women's bodies.
And why not? This sort of rhetoric seemed to work well for them during the midterms; it's clear that the overturning of Roe V. Wade did have an impact on the midterms because Democrats pounded the message that women's "reproductive rights" were being taken away, and they believed it.
I guess there are a whole lot of women in America today who are less moved by the plight of a newborn baby than by their own "rights" to end its life. Sad.
