Lankford Supports Bills to Protect Children

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today supported the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill to ban abortion past five months of pregnancy because a child at that stage can experience pain, and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which protects newborns that survive abortions by requiring they receive care from health care practitioners.

“Today the Senate was asked an important question: where is your line for protecting life? Is it when the child can feel pain in the womb? Or even after the child is born? Our country may be incredibly divided on the topic of abortion, but science has shown us that a child at 20 weeks feels pain. Children who can feel pain should be protected from late-term abortions. Regardless of your stance on abortion, we should be able to support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. No child, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, should be left to die. Every newborn should be cared for because they are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and care.”

Background

Lankford is an original cosponsor of both the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protect Act. Lankford spoke on the Senate floor in 2018 to advocate for the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act and in 2019 to speak on infanticide and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

This bill would make it a federal crime for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater. The bill would allow the termination of a late-term pregnancy in order to save the life of the pregnant woman if the pregnancy is a result of rape against an adult and the woman has received medical treatment or counseling at least 48 hours prior to the abortion; or chose to report to law enforcement; if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest against a minor and the abuse is reported to either social services or law enforcement. The bill explicitly bars prosecution of the mother.

The United States is one of only seven countries that allows on-demand abortions past five months. The other six are North Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands. 

Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protect Act

This bill would require health care practitioners to exercise the same degree of skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of an infant who is born alive after an attempted abortion as would be offered to any other child born at the same gestational age. After those efforts, the health care practitioners must ensure that the child is transported and admitted to a hospital.

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