The chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities has condemned the Senate’s failure to ban the killing of newborn babies who survive abortion.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted down two separate measures: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 3275) and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 311), an outcome that Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City (Kansas) described as “appalling.”

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortion past the fifth month of pregnancy, was rejected 53-44, while the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would require babies who survive abortion to be provided with medical care, was rejected, 56-41.

In his statement Tuesday, Archbishop Naumann noted that “most Americans strongly support” these two “critical human rights reforms.”

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act “would ban abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization when a child can certainly feel pain and has a reasonable chance of survival,” the archbishop said. “And the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act helps ensure that Roe v. Wade’s license to kill unborn children does not extend to killing the newborn babies who survive abortion.”

“It is appalling that even one senator, let alone more than 40, voted to continue the brutal dismemberment of nearly full-grown infants, and voted against protecting babies who survive abortion,” Naumann said.

“Our nation is better than this, and the majority of Americans who support these bills must make their voices heard,” he added.

In the Senate, 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and advance a bill to a vote on passage. Tuesday’s bills failed to garner the needed votes by margins of 7 and 4 votes.

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