Two bills banning most late-term abortions blocked by Senate Democrats

Washington — Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a pair of Republican bills that would ban most late-term abortions and threaten prison for doctors who don't try saving the lives of infants born alive during abortions.The measures have been defeated multiple times in recent years, but Senate Republicans pushed for renewed votes to enable GOP lawmakers to make an election-year appeal to conservative voters.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of bowing to "the radical demands of the far left" to "drown out common sense" and the views of millions of Americans."It almost defies belief that an entire political party could find cause to object to this basic protection for babies,'' the Kentucky Republican said.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer blasted McConnell for taking up the Senate's time on what he called "fake, dishonest and extreme legislation that has nothing to do with improving the lives of ordinary Americans.''Noting that existing laws protect infants, Schumer said the GOP bills would, in effect, "criminalize" women's reproductive care and intimidate health care providers."Putting these already defeated bills up for a show vote is not a good faith attempt to improve the lives of ... They called the proposals part of a push by abortion opponents to curb access to the procedure and intimidate doctors who perform it, and said late-term abortions generally occur when the infant is considered incapable of surviving after birth.Only 1% of all abortions occur after 21 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. Abortions during the final weeks are rarer still.Doctors' and abortion-rights groups say it is extremely unusual for live infants to be born during attempted late-term abortions, which they say usually occur when the baby is extremely deformed or deemed unable to survive after birth.