For Immediate Release

October 21, 2019

Christian Leaders Unite Across Denominational Lines in Favor of Protecting Children Born Alive after Failed Abortions

The National Pro-life Religious Council, comprised of various denominational leaders working to end abortion, issued the following statement today:

The National Pro-life Religious Council bears witness to the historic Christian teaching on the sanctity of human life, and the need to protect the smallest children.

Today we join together to call for the protection of children who are born alive after a failed abortion, and to support the efforts of our lawmakers on the state and federal level who are working for such protection.

We call attention to the fact that

1. Children are in fact being born alive after failed abortion attempts.

2. Such children are being killed or left to die.

3. Existing law on the state and federal level is not sufficient to protect them.

4. There is a legislative proposal now before the US Congress to provide sufficient protection.

The Centers for Disease Control, as well as several states, provide reporting about children born alive after failed abortions. Moreover, the testimony of firsthand witnesses, like Nurse Jill Stanek, to the fact that some of these children are left to die without any medical care, have been public knowledge for decades.

Not all states provide protection for these children. On the federal level, although the Born Alive Infants Protection Act defines such children as persons, no legal requirement exists for the provision of life-saving treatment for such children. Nor are there any sanctions for the failure to provide such treatment.

We therefore urge the swift passage of the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act both in the House and the Senate, in order to augment existing law and provide adequate protection for these children.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to bear witness to the sacred value of every human life, and to take appropriate action to protect the weak and vulnerable among us. It is in response to that sacred duty that we speak and call for action on this most urgent matter.
(More information available at www.BornAlive.US)

Fr. Frank Pavone
President, National Pro-life Religious Council

Ernie Ohlhoff
Director of Outreach, National Right to Life

Deacon Georgette Forney
Anglicans for Life

Rev. John B. Brown
Issachar Imperative

Deborah Hollifield
Executive Director, Presbyterians Protecting Life

Rev. John S. Sheldon
President, Presbyterians Protecting Life

Rev. Dr. Dennis R. Di Mauro
Lutherans for Life

Rev. Kirk van der Swaagh
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference

Rev. Paul T. Stallsworth
Lifewatch (Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality)

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