Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, shown in 2018, accused Democratic presidential hopefuls of hypocrisy for opposing his bill’s regulations for the care of newborns. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Congress Senate defeats anti-abortion bill, as GOP tries to jam Dems

The Senate on Monday rejected a bill making it a felony for a doctor to harm or neglect an infant who survives an “attempted abortion,” part of a Republican effort to squeeze Democrats ahead of the 2020 campaign.

The vote split mainly along party lines, 53-44. Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin of West Virginia crossed the aisle to vote for it; no Republicans broke ranks. Sixty votes are required for the bill to advance.


“Evidently the far left is no longer convinced that all babies are created equal,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Ahead of the vote, the bill’s Republican sponsors and outside anti-abortion groups lobbying for its passage made it clear that the intent of Monday’s vote was to undermine the growing pool of Senate Democrats running for president.

In a speech just before the vote, bill author Sen. Ben Sasse quoted campaign stump speeches by Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and independent Bernie Sanders vowing to look out for society’s “voiceless and vulnerable” and accused them of hypocrisy for opposing his bill’s regulations for the care of newborns.

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"Was that all just clap track for the campaign trail and for soundbites? Or do people mean the stuff that they say around here?" he said of his colleagues with White House aspirations.

Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group closely allied with Hill Republicans and the Trump administration, said Monday that it was “watching this vote closely to see whether leading Democratic candidates for president in 2020 will go on the record for or against infanticide.”

"This bill is important in itself but it‘s also important as a setup for the coming election, where there will be a stark contrast between the president of the United States and any one of the Democratic nominees," SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in an interview. She stood just outside the Senate chamber lobbying senators as they entered to cast their votes.

Sanders, Harris, Warren, Booker and Gillibrand all voted against the measure. Sherrod Brown, another Democratic senator exploring a White House bid, complained to POLITICO that the vote was held in bad faith.

"This is pure Mitch McConnell. It's all aimed at keeping his base in line, while the president grows increasingly unpopular," the Ohio Democrat said. "We're not doing infrastructure, we're not doing health care. We're not doing anything that matters to help our country. It's just votes on abortion and other kinds of divisive votes he's going to bring."

Democrats and reproductive rights advocates blasted the bill, saying it's already a felony to harm or neglect an infant and that the “medically irresponsible” bill would restricts doctors from making case-by-case decisions about what is best for infants and mothers.

"This bill is not about protecting infants, as Republicans have claimed — because that is not up for debate and it is already the law," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). "This bill is government interference in women’s health care, in families’ lives, and in medicine on steroids."

The bill was previously introduced in the House by now-Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Sasse first tried to force a vote on it earlier this month, capitalizing on a wave of outrage among conservatives after New York loosened its restrictions on third-trimester abortions and embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam gave an interview defending similar efforts in his state.

Democrats led by Murray objected to that fast-track procedure and blocked a floor vote, prompting Republicans to vow to try again.

Susan B. Anthony list said earlier this month that even though the Senate lacks the votes to pass abortion restrictions, it should continue to hold votes to put pressure on Democrats and divide the caucus. The move is part of a larger strategy designed to maintain current abortion restrictions while revving up the GOP’s conservative base ahead of 2020 and courting independents who may be turned off by Democrats' position on abortion rights.

"We're seeing a gradual movement to hammer a wedge right into the middle of the Democratic Party, and at some point soon here, they're just going to have to cry mercy," Dannenfelser said.