U.S. Rep. Dr. Green (R-TN-07) announced Tuesday he would sign the petition to force a floor vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
The act was filed by House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO-02) and would require medical care to children born alive after surviving a botched abortion.
“Now, more than ever, the American people need clarification – where exactly does the Democratic party stand on the issue of abortion? Are they really comfortable letting already born infants die? This is not a trifling matter. I urge my colleagues in Congress to break party lines and protect these vulnerable and innocent children from this demise,” Green said in a statement.
A simple majority (218) of signatures are needed for a discharge petition to be successful, Green said. That means 21 Democrats must join Republicans.
At the end of Tuesday, the measure had 191 signatures, Politico said.
Only one of three Democratic cosponsors – U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) – added his name to the petition. Freshman U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT), who is not a cosponsor, also signed. According to Politico:
Still, the GOP plans to use the petition as a cudgel against Democrats, particularly moderate freshmen in states like Virginia and New York that have passed laws to make it easier to get a third-trimester abortion in certain cases. Republicans say their goal is to expose where every Democrat stands on the issue.
Green retweeted a statement by Scalise that said, “BREAKING → House Republicans just formed a long line on the House Floor to sign my discharge petition that will force a vote on the Born Alive Act & make all members tell the American people where they stand on infanticide. Now let’s see if Democrats will join us. #LetUsVote”
Signed. https://t.co/E8BmR0mWQq
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) April 2, 2019
Green also retweeted a statement by U.S. Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC-06), who said, “Will the House Democratic leadership let their members speak for themselves and the majority of the country who want to #EndInfanticide? @SteveScalise will file a discharge petition today so we can find out. #LetUsVote http://bit.ly/2N2UBWV”
Will the House Democratic leadership let their members speak for themselves and the majority of the country who want to #EndInfanticide? @SteveScalise will file a discharge petition today so we can find out. #LetUsVote https://t.co/MYAWc21zyi pic.twitter.com/X5f82CVcSV
— Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) April 2, 2019
Green is a physician and a cancer survivor. He has previously written on the topics of abortion and infanticide here and here.
Green also said:
Infanticide has made its way into national headlines after Democrat Virginia Governor Ralph Northam took to the airways and vividly explained how he as a children’s doctor would make an infant ‘comfortable’ while deliberating whether or not to let an infant die outside the womb after an attempted abortion. In New York, too, Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a very controversial bill that would allow non-doctors to perform abortions on women for any reason up until the child’s birth.
So far, Democrats have not made any move legislatively to protect children from this fate. In fact, they’ve blocked any attempt to even consider legislation to protect children. The discharge petition was filed after Democrats rejected 25 Republicans’ requests to vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Rep. Mark Green was one of those Republicans. His request was denied on the House floor on March 27th. The video of his request is here.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Photo “Mark Green” by Mark Green.
