Supporters of abortion fear that in the coming years, Roe v. Wade may be overturned and abortion decisions left up to state legislatures. To get ahead of such action, some states are passing sweeping new abortion laws. For example, New York’s Governor signed the Reproductive Health Act (January 2019). It expanded abortion rights and allowed abortion right up to the point of birth. Illinois soon followed with its own version of this legislation, and Virginia’s Governor expressed his belief that if babies in Virginia were born alive during an abortion, they should be left to die.

To close loopholes in federal law, pro-life Members of Congress introduced the Born Alive Abortion Survivor’s Protection Act. If passed, this legislation not only extends criminal penalties to health care providers who practice infanticide, but it requires that any baby born alive during an abortion be treated with the same standard of care given to a non-aborted baby of the same gestational age. This bill would ensure that babies will not be cast aside, ignored, or left to die.

In February 2020, pro-abortion Senators blocked a procedural attempt to bring this bill up for a vote. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) refuses to allow a vote. Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) is spearheading a Discharge Petition that demands a vote. It needs 14 more signatures.