No penalites for killing a born-alive child

None of this fits together. None of it. It’s like Mark Twain said, “It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

So, here’s the truth: Last month, 183 members of the House of Representatives voted against a bill in Congress that would have imposed penalties on abortion providers who didn’t give medical care to any child who was born alive after an abortion procedure. These 183 elected officials chose to make the intentional killing of a born-alive child inconsequential, insofar as there are currently no criminal penalties, or even fines, for such an unconscionable, immoral and brutal act.

Those 183 men and women opposing this bill (called the Born-Alive Protection Act) would not subject abortionists to even a fine. I mean, if you’re late with a payment to your credit card company, you pay a late fee. If you don’t return your library book on time, you have to pay a reconnection fee. But if you intentionally kill a born-alive child, while in the commission of an abortion, you get to go home for the day, pick up some dinner, watch some Netflix, AND come back the next day, where you will likely do it all over again, and get paid, too.

In fact, this happens more often than you may have ever considered. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between 2003 and 2014, 588 infant deaths were reported by abortion clinics with the cause of death being “termination of pregnancy, affecting fetus and newborn.” And that’s just the numbers from the clinics who reported these killings at all. After all, as a doctor for Planned Parenthood explained, reporting born-alive infant deaths depends on “who’s in the room” when the baby is born, and who will keep silent about it all.

But you remember Planned Parenthood, right? Back when they admitted that babies born alive after an abortion procedure were sometimes being killed and then sold to medical research firms? You remember when Planned Parenthood’s medical directors admitted to Congress that their abortionists were sometimes altering their abortion procedures, just to increase the likelihood of a live birth, because intact babies can be sold for even more money than if they weren’t?

But whether the CDC’s numbers are understated or not – if there’s one child lost, that’s too many. The fact that 183 members of the House of Representatives voted to allow this conduct, without even so much as imposing a fine to be paid, is gut-wrenching.

Never mind that all 183 opposition votes were Democrats. They are children of God, nevertheless. They are the same ones that ran for Congress and stopped by one afternoon to wedge their campaign flyer into your front door. They had the slick websites which showed them kissing babies, craving apple pie and posing for idyllic portraits with their family, all to say, “You can trust me.”

But who among those 183 Democrats would possibly try to justify the killing of a born-alive child? Or would even tell their children that you shouldn’t try and help someone when they are in need?

It’s not clear whether such a bill will advance in the Senate. It would likely require at least 60 votes to break a filibuster there. President Donald Trump has already praised House Republicans for passing the bill, saying, “I call upon the Senate to pass this important law and send it to my desk for signing.”

You see, being pro-life is more than being anti-abortion. It’s not just supporting a political candidate who shares your views. Being pro-life means we are advocates for life because there is greatness within each of us, and we are created in the image of God.

But when we stop protecting the weak and the vulnerable, we’re extinguishing them – instead of caring for the least among us all.

Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman, attorney and author of “Bright Spots, Big Country, What Makes America Great.” He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo

Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in The Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com, and on American Ground Radio at 101.7FM and 710 AM, weeknights from 6 - 7 p.m., and streaming live on keelnews.com.