President Pro Tempore Phil Berger - Legislative Update: Protecting the Unborn | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Last night, Republicans in the N.C. Senate passed a bill to protect babies who are born alive after surviving an attempted abortion. All but two Democrats voted against it.

    The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act requires doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive during an attempted abortion. A living, breathing infant deserves the same rights as any other child, regardless of decisions that were made before birth. Thankfully the bill passed, but I am still struggling to comprehend the reason anybody could vote against a bill like this.

    Every human being, no matter their political leaning, should agree that an infant who is born alive should receive available medical care.

    Democrats have tried to portray this as an abortion rights issue, saying that this bill addresses a situation of concern only to a mother and her doctor. Frankly, I'm shocked that anyone would believe that deciding whether a live baby deserves medical care or should be left to die is a decision between a mother and her doctor.

    Let me be very clear here, this bill has nothing to do with abortion. That is an important but entirely different debate. Once an infant is alive and breathing in this world, it is no longer up to the mother OR the doctor to decide if that child deserves to continue living. The only decision that should be made after birth is how to best provide medical and other appropriate care for that child.

    During debate on the bill, Democrats also alleged that there are no documented cases of post-abortion survivors in North Carolina. Whether that is true or not is up for debate, but even if that is the case, there are some practices that are so horrible that we need to make it very clear where we stand on them. I, for one, stand on the side of protecting the life of a live child.

    The bill is now moving onto the N.C. House of Representatives and when they hopefully pass the bill it will come before Governor Roy Cooper. I would like to think he will sign the bill and make it very clear that this horrific practice will not be tolerated in our state. Sadly as the Democratic Party continues to move even further left and embrace a radical agenda, I fear that will not be the case.

    Contact: Senator Phil Berger

       http://www.philberger.org/