Lankford Issues Statement on Executive Order to Protect Newborn Children

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) released the following statement after President Trump signed an Executive Order Protecting Vulnerable Newborn and Infant Children:

“President Trump took an extraordinary step to protect newborns, pre-mature babies, and infant lives. If a child is delivered and is alive, they should be protected by federal law and provided full medical care. In America, every child should matter to every person. Thank you, President Trump, for ensuring every child gets a fighting chance.” 

Lankford introduced the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act, which gives states the authority to exclude abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds. Lankford cosponsored the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protect Act. He also spoke on infanticide and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on the Senate floor.  

Lankford also reintroduced the Conscience Protection Act as well as the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act. He also supported pro-life conservative priorities including the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act, the Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act, and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, . Lankford spoke on the Senate floor in 2018 to advocate for the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act 

To prevent US funding for abortion abroad, Lankford led a bicameral letter to the Acting Administrator for the US Agency for International Development John Barsa to urge him to protect American taxpayer dollars during the pandemic from funding pro-abortion lobbying or advocacy efforts in other countries via the United Nations. This practice is in violation of the Siljander Amendment, which prevents State Department funds from being used to lobby for abortion.

Lankford also joined more than two dozen senators to call on the Department of Treasury to investigate Planned Parenthood’s abuse of the taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and separately calling on the Department of Justice to expand its ongoing investigation of Planned Parenthood in the wake of new evidence of criminal activity. Lankford also recently joined a bicameral letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to call for new regulations to end tax breaks for abortion under the guise of health care, as well as a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to urge it to remove the abortion pill from the US market.

Lankford is Chair of the Senate Values Action Team and member of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, which advocates for issues including life and conscience protections. He received an “A” rating from the Susan B. Anthony List for his pro-life voting record.

###