Abortion After Birth - A Debate Issue

By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff
Rightgrrl Contributor
October 6, 2000

Last week, following the House vote on the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, there was a flurry of articles on pro-life websites heaping praise on House members for overwhelmingly passing the bill. The National Right to Life Committee (of which I am a long time member) went so far as to offer "congratulations to the House of Representatives," citing the vote as "an important opening round victory."

Forgive me for not sharing NRLC's enthusiasm. First off, all those pro-aborts who voted to pass the Act did so very begrudgingly. Rep. Jerrold Nadler bristled: "The purpose of this bill is only to get the pro-choice members to vote against it...so they could say we support infanticide." Well, isn't it true? Were all those votes every year by 'pro-choice members' of the House to keep partial birth abortion (infanticide) legal just a bad dream?

The only reason so many Democrats voted to pass the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (while holding their noses) was to prevent Governor Bush from turning their vote into a debate issue. But the Democratic Party's support for infanticide should be a debate issue, especially if Al Gore attempts (as he will) to portray Bush as "anti-choice" in light of the recent FDA approval of RU-486.

Finally, what the National Right to Life Committee did not elaborate on are the fifteen House members who voted against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act! In plain English, these fifteen people...who occupy powerful positions in government...voted in favor of murdering babies AFTER they are born. FOR SHAME! This goes beyond partial birth abortion. In these cases, when PBA fails, the baby emerges on its own and is totally born, and no longer in the mother's body. Now, the mother is on one bed and the baby is on another...and the baby is alive and breathing on its own. THEN, the abortionist (or whoever) either lets the baby die, or murders the baby, in order to "complete" the abortion. FIFTEEN HOUSE MEMBERS VOTED TO KEEP THIS LEGAL. GEORGE W. BUSH SHOULD BRING THIS UP IN THE DEBATES.

The National Right to Life Committee should have denounced these fifteen members, and highlighted their names on the their website. They did not, but I will. These fifteen House members do not deserve any voter support in the future. Folks, make sure you remember these names when you go out to vote in November:

1. Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind.
2. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.
3. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.
4. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.
5. Rep. Jesse Jackson, D-Ill.
6. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.
7. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Penn.
8. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn.
9. Rep. Nydia Valasquez, D-N.Y.
10. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y.
11. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.
12. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
13. Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-Texas
14. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
15. Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C.

Copyright 2000 by Bonnie Chernin Rogoff. Not to be reproduced in any fashion, in whole or in part, without written consent from the author. All rights reserved.