Amid firestorms over the issue, Wagner will try a fresh push for a House vote on late-term abortions

Feb. 07--WASHINGTON -- A day after President Donald Trump skewered embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for comments Northam made about late-term abortions, Rep. Ann Wagner and a colleague launched an effort to force another House vote on a "Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act."

Wagner, R-Ballwin, and Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana who is the minority whip in the House of Representatives, said Wednesday that they would reintroduce legislation to "ensure any infant born alive after an abortion receives the same protection of law as any newborn: mandating care and instituting penalties for doctors who allow such infants to die or who intentionally kill a newborn."

In 30 days, they intend to file a "discharge petition," a legislative technique that would force the House to consider the bill if it received a majority of signatures from 435 House members.

A similar bill passed the House last year, 241-183, when the House was controlled by the Republicans. But it died in the Senate.

The prospects of such a bill's passing the House again were greatly diminished when Democrats took control in the November elections. Only five Democrats voted for it last year, and the Democrats now have a 235-199 majority, a vast majority of them favoring abortion rights.

Press reports said an anti-abortion Democratic group found only seven congressional candidates running as Democrats last year to endorse. Most won, but in the Senate, the loss of Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly was a blow to anti-abortion Democrats.

But in trying to force a discharge petition, Wagner and Scalise -- close friends who have campaigned for one another -- would put House members again on record on an issue that stirs emotion on both sides of the political aisle heading into the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.

And they are doing so at a time when the abortion battle has been in the news.

Trump, in his State of the Union on Tuesday, referred to "chilling displays" of New York state legislators cheering legislation permitting abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy if a doctor determines the life of a woman is at risk or the fetus is not viable. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the legislation Jan. 22.

"These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world," Trump said. "And then we had the case of the governor of Virginia, where he stated he would execute a baby after birth."

That was a reference to Northam, a pediatric neurologist before he turned politician, who created a political tempest last week by how he described a similar bill then being considered in the Virginia legislature.

Northam, a Democrat, defended the legislation, which did not pass, and pointed out that late-term abortions are performed only if the fetus is severely deformed or unable to survive the birth. But he also gave an answer that upset many when he described a scenario in which a baby born alive in that circumstance would be "resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue" between doctors and the mother about what to do next.

Abortion law and procedure experts say such scenarios are so rare that statistics aren't even available on them.

Critics called the scenario Northam described infanticide; abortion rights activists say infanticide is already illegal.

Trump, a Republican, honed in on the debate in his Tuesday night speech, which polls showed was well-received by television viewers.

"Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life," Trump said. "And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: All children -- born and unborn -- are made in the holy image of God."

That line drew Republican members of the House and Senate to their feet, while most Democrats remained seated.

Polls show Americans split on abortion, generally.

Gallup, which has been measuring the question for decades, reported last May that its surveys found that 48 percent of Americans described themselves as "pro-life," and 48 percent described themselves as "pro-choice."

In 1995, Gallup said, 56 percent said they were "pro-choice," and 33 percent "pro-life." But in the latest survey, Gallup also reported that 29 percent of respondents said abortion should be legal in "all circumstances," 18 percent said it should be illegal in all circumstances, while 50 percent said it should be legal in "certain circumstances."

Besides the bill introduction, Scalise said he would also introduce a resolution to have the bill considered on the House floor, and then, after 30 days, would request the "discharge petition." That is a legislative technique designed to bypass committees, now run by Democrats, that might bottle up such legislation in the normal committee process.

"To my colleagues, this is the simplest vote you will ever take: Either you support babies' being killed after they are born or you don't," Wagner said.

Since his controversial abortion statements, Northam has resisted widespread calls to resign after photos of young men he now says were not him in Ku Klux Klan hoods and in blackface appeared on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Northam also acknowledged he once performed in blackface as Michael Jackson for a dance contest in the 1980s.

That revelation along with separate sexual assault allegations engulfing Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax have rattled Virginia, a swing state that has trended Democratic in recent presidential elections.

On Wednesday, the commonwealth's political landscape sustained another temblor when Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat who has already announced he would run for governor in 2021, also acknowledged he went in blackface to a University of Virginia party when he was 19.

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Local abortion protests since 1973

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