by Laurel Duggan
Democratic politicians are portraying the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which requires health care professionals to provide necessary care to infants born alive after failed abortions, as an attack on women’s rights.
Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark and Democratic California Reps. Judy Chu and Norma Torres characterized the legislation as an assault on women’s freedom and bodily autonomy. Certain tweets also appeared to refer to a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning violent attacks on pro-life groups.
“Abortion care is health care. @HouseGOP is putting legislation on the floor today that is part of its assault on women’s reproductive freedom,” Torres wrote Wednesday. “The extreme MAGA Republican agenda is wildly out of step with America.”
Abortion care is health care.@HouseGOP is putting legislation on the floor today that is part of its assault on women’s reproductive freedom.
The extreme MAGA Republican agenda is wildly out of step with America.
— Rep. Norma Torres (@NormaJTorres) January 11, 2023
The text of the bill does not restrict abortions, but recognizes infants born alive after attempted abortions as legal persons under U.S. law, requires that doctors treat them the same way as other patients and bars acts intentionally killing living infants outside the womb.
“Any infant born alive after an abortion … has the same claim to the protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or for any person … for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a patient within its care,” the bill reads.
Chu said Republicans were using inflammatory language in an attempt to restrict women’s decisions about their own bodies.
“Republicans are using the ‘born alive’ inflammatory title to try to chip away at a woman’s right to make a decision about her own body,” Chu said on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” Wednesday. “And I think the right to make a decision about your body should be made between you, your family and your doctor.”
This morning, I joined @cspanwj to discuss @HouseGOP efforts to use inflammatory language to further restrict women's bodily autonomy.
Every day my #WomensHealthProtectionAct isn’t law of the land is a day Americans across the country can’t access essential abortion healthcare. pic.twitter.com/V4apq1NwU8
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) January 11, 2023
“That didn’t take long. House Republicans are doubling down on their assault on women and abortion,” Clark wrote Monday. “House Democrats stand united with the American people and for reproductive freedom.”
That didn't take long. House Republicans are doubling down on their assault on women and abortion.
House Democrats stand united with the American people and for reproductive freedom. pic.twitter.com/CIHqwZAybz
— Katherine Clark (@WhipKClark) January 9, 2023
Chu, Clark and Torres did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Laurel Duggan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
