Sen. Ricketts to introduce bill to protect dignity of aborted unborn babies

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Sen. Pete Ricketts will introduce a bill to require abortionists to treat deceased unborn babies with dignity.

“A few years ago, the remains of over 2,200 aborted babies were discovered at an Indiana abortionists’ home,” Ricketts, R-Neb., told The Daily Signal. “It’s horrifying that human remains would be treated like common medical waste.”

The Dignity for Aborted Children Act, sponsored by eight Senate Republicans, would require abortionists to dispose of the remains of the unborn with the same respect as any other human being who dies.

“Human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and that’s what the pro-life movement’s about,” Ricketts said. “It’s about love and compassion and dignity and respect.”

The bill also requires abortionists to obtain a patient’s informed consent for retaining possession of the remains or for allowing the abortionist to transfer the remains to an entity that provides interment or cremation services.

Abortion giant Planned Parenthood has been exposed for selling aborted baby parts to the University of California and the University of Pittsburgh by pro-life activist David Daleiden. In one video recorded by Daleiden, officials at the Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston describe abortionists who skirt federal law against partial-birth abortion by using forceps to pull off the legs of babies who are about to be born alive, he said, so that the bodies may be sold for thousands of dollars.

Planned Parenthood previously has claimed that undercover videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress were “heavily doctored.”

“Certainly Planned Parenthood plays a role in this, because they have been involved in contributing to an industry that sells the parts of aborted babies, but it just goes to the overall culture, in general,” Ricketts said. “The abortion industry doesn’t believe that these are humans.”

“These are most vulnerable humans, these little babies that aren’t born yet, are treated just as lumps of flesh by the abortion industry,” Ricketts continued, “and that’s why they do the horrible things they do, like selling their body parts or just disposing of the remains like medical waste.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana, Steve Daines of Montana, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Jim Risch of Idaho, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Tim Sheehy of Montana, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Ricketts hopes Democrats will support his “commonsense” bill. This week, every Democrat in both the House and Senate voted against a bill to protect babies born alive from failed abortions.

“I would hope that Democrats would show a little humanity and recognize that we need to treat these babies with taking respect,” Ricketts told The Daily Signal, “and that’s what I will continue to lobby for.”

The Senate Republicans intentionally timed the introduction of the bill to coincide with the 52nd annual March for Life on Friday.

“This is an opportunity for us to really highlight the work the pro-life movement does to be able to help protect these babies, and I would expect that, especially with Republicans now in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House,” Ricketts said, “you will continue to see pro-life legislation being introduced.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]