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Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House passed two pieces of pro-life legislation of which he was an original cosponsor—H.R.3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act and H.R.3504, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act:
“The House of Representatives has taken a stand against Planned Parenthood and its heinous practice of trafficking human body parts for profit. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to facilitate abortions or for any of the atrocities that Planned Parenthood commits against unborn children. Women’s health is vitally important, and H.R. 3134 redirects funds from Planned Parenthood to community health centers that provide important services for women but do not perform hundreds of thousands of abortions every year.
“Furthermore, children who are born-alive deserve immediate treatment and care. Any health care practitioner who doesn’t provide such care or any individual who causes harm to the child should face criminal penalties. H.R. 3504 is just commonsense and I was proud to fight to protect the lives of innocent babies today.”
Background
Congressman Gosar was an original cosponsor of both the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which successfully passed the House by a vote of 241-187, as well as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which passed by a vote of 248-177.
Courtesy of the Majority Whip’s Office:
In 2002, Congress passed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-207) – the House by passed it by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent. The law says that any infant born alive is considered a “person” under federal law, with all of the attendant protections that come from with that. The bill, however, did not include any penalties for healthcare providers who did not provide medical care to such “persons” who are born alive during an abortion procedure.The films released by the Center for Medical Progress reveal that babies are, in fact, surviving abortions and then are purposely not treated, or worse yet, their lives are actively taken in order to obtain their organs and other tissue.
The Born-Alive Survivors Act puts teeth into the original Born Alive law by making healthcare providers subject to up to five years in jail and/or fines if they don’t provide the same standard of care to an infant born alive during an abortion that a wanted child would receive. It requires the infant be transported to the hospital. In addition, if a doctor actively takes the life of the baby who survives an abortion, they can be prosecuted under homicide law. The bill explicitly bars any prosecution of the infant’s mother, and it gives her the option of suing the healthcare provider who does not treat or actively kills the surviving baby.
Courtesy of the Republican Study Committee:
Earlier this year, the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover investigative videos that allege to show Planned Parenthood employees discussing the harvesting and sale of aborted fetal tissue. There are currently nine such videos that depict Planned Parenthood employees appearing to discuss changes in abortion procedures to obtain certain organs, price negotiations for different tissues, and a lack of informed consent from patients. Planned Parenthood represents the largest abortion provider in the nation, performing over 325,000 abortions per year, and receives over $500 million in tax payer funding.
H.R. 3134 would place a one year moratorium on all federal funding, including Medicaid, to Planned Parenthood or any of its affiliate clinics, unless the entirety of the Planned Parenthood Federation certifies each clinic or affiliate will not perform, nor will it provide funds to any entities that perform, an abortion during the one year period. Federal funding would remain available to other healthcare providers, including community health centers.
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