{"id":198768,"date":"2019-03-20T16:36:15","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T21:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=198768"},"modified":"2019-03-19T16:59:53","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T21:59:53","slug":"democrat-buck-abortion-ohio-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/democrat-buck-abortion-ohio-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat state lawmakers buck pro-abortion party in Ohio and New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>)\u00a0Last week, an unexpected thing happened in the Ohio and New Mexico state senates: Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in taking a stand for pro-life policies.\u00a0In Ohio, all state senators\u2014Democrats and Republicans alike, pro-choice and pro-life alike\u2014approved a resolution urging Congress to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.\u00a0The federal legislation (which would ensure that\u00a0babies who are born after failed abortion attempts<\/a>\u00a0are given proper medical care)\u00a0was defeated by pro-abortion Democrats three weeks ago in the U.S. Senate, leaving many in the pro-life community angry, heartbroken, and dejected.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by pro-life Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act<\/a>\u00a0materialized after Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made alarming comments<\/a> defending a bill that would legalize abortion through active labor and suggested non-treatment for abortion survivors\u2014a seeming defense of infanticide. Those comments were made just after New York passed a law<\/a> stripping away all protections from unborn babies and right as other states<\/a> were mulling similarly aggressive measures.<\/p>\n

Until last Thursday, New Mexico was one of those states hoping to follow New York’s perilous path. On March 14, eight Democratic senators joined all 16 Republican senators in blocking the repeal<\/a> of a now-dormant 1969 law which made it a felony to perform an abortion, with exceptions for rape, birth defects and serious threats to a woman\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

One New Mexico Democrat, Sen. Gabriel Ramos, cited his Catholic\u00a0faith<\/a> before voting against the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the toughest decisions any of us will ever have to make,\u201d he said ahead of the vote. \u201cI stand unified against legislation that weakens the defense of life and threatens the dignity of the human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a time when the Democratic\u00a0Party is showing zero tolerance for pro-life views<\/a>\u00a0and the pro-life\/pro-choice divide seems to be widening,\u00a0last week\u2019s votes in the Ohio and Mexico senates came as a surprise.<\/p>\n

Just days before each of the senate votes,\u00a0Democrats seemed determined to follow the pro-abortion party-line. The New Mexico House had already approved the repeal of the 1969 law, and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had vowed to sign the bill.<\/p>\n

Back in Ohio, the day before the Senate vote, three pro-choice Democrats attempted to block the resolution from passing out of the health committee\u00a0but failed. By the time the whole Ohio Senate took up the resolution on Wednesday, those three senators changed their votes\u2014but not eagerly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis resolution is troubling because we know there are laws on the books that protect a live born baby,\u201d said Ohio State Sen. Nickie Antonio, one of the Democratic committee members. Then, after explaining why Ohio\u2019s continuous pursuit of pro-life legislation gives her \u201ca whole lot of heartburn,\u201d Antonio came to her conclusion on the resolution at hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow having said all that,\u201d she said, her tone changing. \u201cWhen a baby\u2019s born…a baby\u2019s born. And we should do everything we can,\u201d she concluded tearfully.<\/p>\n