Abortion survivor calls Democrats’ collective opposition to Born-Alive bill ‘traumatic and disgusting’
An abortion survivor said it is “traumatic and disgusting” that Democrats are collectively opposing legislation that would require abortion providers to provide medical care to infants who survive the procedure.
“It’s almost indescribable for me to say what it’s like to see people who are truly opposed to who I am and what I’ve suffered and the people I serve – what they’re suffering even today,” said Melissa Ohden, the founder. of the Abortion Survivors Network, an advocacy organization that provides support to people who survive abortions.
Ohden survived a abortion by saline infusion in 1977. She said her birth mother’s family pressured her to have the procedure.
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“I was soaked in toxic saline solution for five days, poisoned and burned until I was supposed to die,” Ohden told Fox News. “And on the fifth day of the abortion procedure, I was accidentally born alive.”
Despite her own grandmother’s pleas to let her die in hospital, Ohden said a brave nurse rushed her to the neonatal intensive care unit for treatment.
“To me, that’s what the Born-Alive vote is for,” Odhen said. “Making sure babies like me get medical attention.”
The House on Wednesday passed the Liveborn Abortion Survivor Protection Act, which would require doctors to provide immediate medical care to babies born alive after an attempted abortion. Federal law already requires that a child who survives an attempted abortion receive medical care.
The bill also clarifies that a survivor is a “legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States.” Additionally, it states that a baby born in an abortion clinic that does not have adequate care facilities would be responsible for transporting the child to the hospital.
“No survivor’s life should ever be left in the hands of whoever is working that day,” Ohden said.
Ohden has supported the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act for more than a decade.
“Knowing that he’s been blocked over 80 times when we had Speaker Pelosi, obviously yesterday was very historic,” she said.
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Ohden was in the House gallery with another survivor during the vote. She saw House Democrats, many of whom were dressed in white in protest, take a stand against the bill.
All but two voted against the legislation, which passed 220-210. Senior Democratic lawmakers tweeted criticism, calling the Republicans’ stance “extreme.”
“Today, instead of joining Democrats in condemning all political violence, [House Republicans] chose to push its extreme anti-choice agenda,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris also weighed on voting.
“House Republicans today passed an extreme bill that will further undermine the right to reproductive health care in our country,” Harris tweeted. “This is yet another attempt by Republican lawmakers to control women’s bodies.”
Ohden said it was a matter of “common sense” and should not be politicized.
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“Most survivors find it traumatic and disgusting that we have been reduced to being a partisan issue,” she said. “It’s not who we are, it’s what they’re trying to make of us.”
Passage of the bill by the House sends it to the Senate, although the upper house, controlled by Democrats, probably won’t act on it.
“We will have a lot of abortion survivors reaching out to senators,” Ohden told Fox News. “We are constituents of our senators and we deserve them to hear our stories and the impact their vote has on us.”
To watch Ohden’s full interview, Click here.
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