It’s almost unimaginable that 46 senators would vote against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. But that’s just what happened yesterday, with two Republicans joining 42 Democrats to cast their truly vile vote.

We’re talking about outlawing abortions for babies 20 weeks old or more. Even then there are exceptions for abortions deemed necessary “to save the life of the pregnant woman, or … when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.”

How could 46 senators (including all but five Democrats — three who voted for and two who didn’t vote at all) vote against this humane act?

Abortion is evil enough even in the early stages of a pregnancy. But aborting a baby 20-weeks or older is an act of savagery. To vote against passing the Pain-Capable bill is an act of moral perversion.

Party of Death

For some years now, the Democratic Party has distinguished itself as the party of death. Its abortion plank gets more and more radical with each election. As pro-life leader Marjorie Dannenfelser pointed out in Time magazine in 2016, the Democrat position has been on a steep and steady decline for the last two decades.

In 1996, “the DNC adopted a platform that characterized abortion as a ‘difficult issue’ and because of that, ‘we respect the individual conscience of each American.’ It called for making abortion ‘less necessary’ and ‘more rare.’”

LifeSiteNews noted the contrast in 2016.

The Democratic Party’s 2016 platform pledges to “stand up” for Planned Parenthood, fund abortion nationwide and around the world, vows to “overturn” state and federal restrictions on abortion, proposes cracking down on pro-life sidewalk counselors, and affirms abortion as “core” to people’s “health and well-being.”

In keeping with this platform of death, 42 out of 47 Democrats voted against the Pain-Capable bill, to their lasting shame and reproach. (That shame and reproach is shared by the two Republicans who joined them.)

But another thing makes this whole story all the more ironic. The one leading the way in slamming the Senate is none other than Donald Trump. He has become the staunchest, most outspoken pro-life president in our history. Three years ago, who would have believed this?

This was the statement he issued on the official White House site:

Recently, when I addressed the 45th annual March for Life, I called on the Senate to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, important legislation that would protect our most vulnerable. It is disappointing that despite support from a bipartisan majority of U.S. Senators, this bill was blocked from further consideration. Scientific studies have demonstrated that babies in the womb feel pain at twenty weeks. The vote by the Senate rejects scientific fact and puts the United States out of the mainstream in the family of nations, in which only 7 out of 198 nations, including China and North Korea, allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. We must defend those who cannot defend themselves. I urge the Senate to reconsider its decision and pass legislation that will celebrate, cherish, and protect life.

Kudos to you, Mr. President.

Premature Babies Surviving

In 2015, Newsweek reported on a major study published by the New England Journal of Medicine. The study indicated that “premature babies born at 22 weeks are more likely to survive outside the womb than previously thought.”

Last November, CNN ran a story about the daughter of Courtney Stensrud and her husband. She was born at just 21 weeks and four days, but was three-years-old at the time of the article. She is described as “fun-loving” and “spunky” and even attending pre-school.

In the words of her mom,

If you didn’t know that she was so preemie, you would think she’s a normal 3-year-old. In her school, she is keeping up with all the other 3-year-olds. She loves playing with other kids. She loves everything I think a normal 3-year-old likes. She loves her baby dolls, she loves books, and she loves make-believe. She loves anything and everything her (older) brother is doing.

Her survival and health are truly miraculous, but they also stand as a reminder of just how developed a 21-week-old baby is in the womb.

Take a moment and look at the picture of this precious little girl at three-weeks old, wearing her parents’ wedding rings on her tiny arm. Then think of the 46 senators who voted to continue killing babies like this in the womb. What possible justification could they have for their vote?

After 45 years of pushing back against Roe v. Wade with a committed pro-life movement in America, we are one of just seven countries that allows abortions for babies of this age. How can that be?

The painful answer is that most Americans are still asleep in the light. Still failing to take seriously the horror of abortion. Still looking to far too few to change our culture and our laws.

May God have mercy on America, and may He help us to repent before it’s too late.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that three Republicans voted against the bill along with 43 Democrats, and that there are 46 Democrats in the Senate. Two Republicans joined 42 Democrats and two independents in voting against the bill. There are currently 47 Democrats in the Senate.