(HorizonPost.com) – Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-FL) voted against HR 26, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, during a recent US House of Representatives session.
He joined his Democrat colleagues, all of whom also voted against HR 26–with the exception of Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who voted “present.”
Frost, the first member of Gen Z to become a Representative, said that he voted against HR 26 in defense of “child-birthing persons.” He cited the desire to defend an individual’s rights and physical autonomy.
HR 26 creates baseline requirements that medical providers must follow if an infant survives an abortion procedure. First, a medical provider who is present at the procedure would be required to give that infant the same level of care as any baby born at that age of gestation. Second, they would have to oversee the infant’s hospitalization.
Medical providers who witness their colleagues failing to follow these requirements would have to notify police.
In the event medical providers neglected to perform the baseline health services (or notify law enforcement in applicable cases), they would face prosecution, including a potential fine or up to five years’ prison time.
Medical practitioners who end the life of an infant that survived abortion–or attempted to–could be prosecuted for murder.
While Frost argued that he wanted to protect the individual rights of “child-birthing persons,” HR 26 does make a provision for mothers. The bill would prevent a mother who chose to abort from being prosecuted in the event that the abortion failed. However, it would also give her the ability to file a civil case against any medical provider who violated the bill’s requirements.
At what point is a living, breathing human granted its own rights–from the time of birth, or some arbitrary time afterward? It could be argued that Frost’s lack of support for protecting abortion survivors perpetuates a loss of individual autonomy.
The fact remains that an infant that survives abortion and is denied basic medical care will be subjected to suffering and potentially a long, slow death.
In this instance, it seems clear where “My Body, My Choice” begins and ends–with no regard to the bodies or choices of infant survivors.
Copyright 2023, HorizonPost.com
