On Tuesday, during his State of the Union Address, President Trump highlighted the barbarism of abortion and the need to protect Life. There is no more appropriate time for such courageous leadership from our president in light of the recent anti-Life legislative efforts and horrifying commentary spewing from New York and Virginia.
President Trump called for the US Congress to pass the federal Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would protect preborn children from abortion after five months of development. Five months is the point of consensus in the scientific and medical communities at which preborn children are capable of feeling pain.
Texas has already enacted a ban on abortion at five months based on the child’s capacity to feel pain. In 2013, while others wanted to simply regulate the abortion industry, Texas Right to Life championed passage of the Preborn Pain Act which protects pain-capable preborn children from abortion at the five-month mark. Texas Right to Life applauds President Trump’s bold Pro-Life leadership at the national level in demanding that such common-sense Pro-Life legislation become the law of the land, following Texas’s lead.
Also in his address, President Trump mentioned the extremist anti-Life law recently passed in New York, under which abortion is now declared a fundamental right. In New York, preborn children have no safeguards and can be aborted up until the moment of birth; babies who survive botched abortion and are born alive do not have to be cared for but may be legally left to die. Trump also highlighted Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s recent callous comments on infanticide, in which Northam sanctioned the abandonment of babies born alive after an attempted abortion, leaving them to die, until the mother and physician decide whether the defenseless child is deserving of Life.
President Trump said,
There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.
To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.
Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.
With states like Virginia, Vermont, and New Mexico threatening passage of destructive anti-Life legislation, and New York actually enacting such a law, Texas must not back down from leading America in passing life-saving legislation. 53,000 preborn Texas children are killed every year by abortion, and our state legislature must again prioritize the protection of Life. Just as Texas Right to Life led on the Preborn Pain Act in 2013, we have established the Pro-Life priority agenda for this legislative session. Texas is a Pro-Life state–let your state legislators know that Texans want to stand for Life.