U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today voted to advance two pro-life bills he cosponsored that would help protect babies who survive abortions and limit abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, at which point unborn infants are capable of feeling pain. Despite bipartisan support, the bills failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.

“I voted to defend the sanctity of life by protecting both children who survive an abortion and those unborn infants whom we know, based on science, can feel pain,” said Sen. Moran. “Today, the Senate had an opportunity to send a message showing who we are as leaders and as a society as a whole—one that protects the weak and the voiceless, instead of one that permits their destruction. I regret the Senate failed a fundamental test.”

Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would require that babies who survive an abortion are provided the same medical care as any child born at the same gestational period. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that between 2003 and 2014 at least 143 babies were born alive during abortions. This legislation would require those babies to be provided life-saving medical services.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would limit abortions after 20 weeks gestation, at which point scientific data shows an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain. The United States is one of only seven countries that allows elective abortions after 18 weeks post-fertilization, joining countries like China and North Korea. In 2017, more than 11,000 abortions were performed after 20 weeks of gestation.