In addition to the vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on Wednesday, the House passed a resolution condemning the recent wave of vandalism against pro-life pregnancy-resource centers since the Dobbs decision leaked in May 2022.
The born-alive bill garnered the vote of just one House Democrat; the resolution condemning violence got the support of three.
I ran through the Democrats’ (faulty) arguments for opposing the born-alive bill here, but why did they also oppose a resolution condemning violence? The most common and prominent argument made by Democrats during floor debate was that the resolution failed to condemn violence against abortion clinics and doctors. For example, Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas pointed out that the resolution condemning recent violence against pro-life pregnancy centers did not condemn the 2009 murder of George Tiller, a late-term-abortion doctor.
But, back in 2009, the House did immediately and unanimously pass a resolution — a 423–0 vote — condemning the murder of George Tiller.
“Over 100 churches and pro-life facilities have been attacked in the last seven months,” Ohio GOP congressman Jim Jordan said during floor debate on the resolution. “Republicans condemn violence every time it happens. We condemn it when it happens to abortion clinics, we condemn it when it happens to churches, we condemn it when it happens to pro-life centers. . . . This is just highlighting what has happened in the last seven months with churches and pro-life centers around the country.”