Women who survived attempted abortions blasted Senate Democrats for blocking a bill that would protect children born alive under similar circumstances.
“The fact that Democrats continue to block this and vote against it, the message is heard loud and clear by people like me,” Melissa Ohden, founder of the Abortion Survivors Network, told Fox News Digital. “We are not treated as human beings. We are simply treated as pawns in their game of political chess.”
Priscilla Hurley, another abortion survivor who once worked in the abortion industry, told Fox News Digital she was disappointed but not surprised that Democrats had rejected the bill.
“Under the ‘Born-Alive’ bill, doctors that perform these late-term abortions can’t get away with it anymore if the baby is born alive,” Hurley said. “They have to provide care, and the people around them have to report it if they don’t. There’s that accountability factor that the abortion industry in general does not have. So it’s not surprising that those who are in bed with the abortion industry vote the way they do.”
ABORTION SURVIVOR DETAILS ‘TRAUMA’ SHE HAS EXPERIENCED: ‘YOU’RE CUTTING OFF GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE’
Senate Democrats blocked the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” from advancing in the chamber on Wednesday. The measure would require healthcare practitioners to seek to save the life of a baby born during an attempted abortion, and ensure that the infant is hospitalized.
Infants who survive attempted abortions are already afforded equal protection under a federal law passed in 2002. However, according to the pro-life Charles Lozier Institute, the federal law “contains no requirements that abortion survivors be provided with appropriate care or transferred to a hospital, and there is no enforcement mechanism if the law is violated.”
Under the “Born-Alive” bill, a healthcare practitioner who fails to provide the required degree of care for a child who survives an abortion, or one who fails to report the lack of care given, is subject to criminal penalties, from a fine to up to five years in prison.
Democrats have argued that the bill is redundant, given existing laws against infanticide and murder, and could imperil the lives of women seeking late-term abortions due to medical emergencies while unfairly penalizing doctors.
The abortion survivors disagree, calling these protections a human rights issue that shouldn’t be politicized.
Ohden, who survived after an attempted saline infusion abortion in 1977, has supported the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act as it has been proposed by Republicans over the past decade. The bill has repeatedly been blocked by Democrats in previous congresses.
She was disgusted by a social media post by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., this week calling the Republicans’ claims about the bill “s—t that ain’t true.”
“Doctors are already required to provide appropriate medical care by law. Republicans are trying to get between women and their doctors,” Schumer posted on X, alongside a video criticizing the bill.
Ohden found Schumer’s and others’ comments “disrespectful” and “dehumanizing” toward those who’ve survived abortions.
“It’s very clear that they want us to stay silent. They want us to feel ashamed and isolated,” she said.
ABORTION SURVIVOR CALLS DEMOCRATS’ COLLECTIVE OPPOSITION TO BORN-ALIVE BILL ‘TRAUMATIZING AND DISGUSTING’
Hurley added, “I just pray that their eyes would open to the truth.”
“I don’t think they really take the time, honestly, to talk to people and listen to the facts because they just are protecting the doctors. They’re calling it women’s healthcare, which it doesn’t have anything to do with that. It has to do with human rights,” she continued.
Ohden believes there is not enough awareness about the existence of abortion survivors. Her group, the Abortion Survivors Network, has over 900 members, and she personally believes the actual number of abortion survivors is much higher with the prevalence of chemical abortion today. She pointed to a recent study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which found 11% of 2nd trimester abortions resulted in live births.
Both abortion survivors called the measure “commonsense legislation” that ensures babies who survive an abortion are afforded the same level of medical care as any other baby born at that gestation.
On Thursday, House Republicans passed their own version of the “Born-Alive” bill. All but one Democrat voted against it.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., celebrated its passage.
“This should not be a controversial issue, but rest assured we will keep up the fight in Congress to make sure all babies, born and unborn, are treated like the miracles of life we know they are,” she said in a statement.
“This isn’t a partisan issue, but a moral one,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said. “With this legislation, House Republicans are standing up for our most vulnerable Americans and defending the sanctity of life. It’s disgraceful that Senate Democrats voted in lockstep to block consideration of this lifesaving bill.”
Sen. Schumer’s office did not return a request for comment.
Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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