by Mary Margaret Olohan
House Democrats voted against a motion to recognize unborn babies as “vulnerable populations” Friday.
Republican Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers presented a motion to amend H.R. 535, a bill requiring the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to declare certain chemicals as hazardous and take “vulnerable populations” into account when developing drinking water standards.
Rodgers’ motion suggested protections for unborn children exposed to these chemicals as well by including unborn children in “vulnerable populations.”
“Republicans today stood for the most vulnerable among us – the unborn,” House Leader Kevin McCarthy told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It is sickening that Democrats have used their majority to stand with their socialist base rather than with the most defenseless in our society.”
Two-hundred-and-nineteen House Democrats voted against recognizing unborn children as “vulnerable populations,” including Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Four Democrats voted for the motion: Democratic Utah Rep. Ben McAdams, Democratic Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, Democratic Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, and Democratic Texas Rep. Enrique Roberto “Henry” Cuellar.
BREAKING: Democrats JUST blocked us from protecting unborn children from hazardous chemicals that harm development.
RT to tell them to stop denying the science that the development of a child starts in the womb. #prolife pic.twitter.com/G2a3q06uIN
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) January 10, 2020
“When it comes to pregnant women that are at risk, there are two people at risk,” McMorris Rodgers said Friday. “The pregnant woman, and the unborn child.”
The Washington representative pointed out that the unborn child is “the most vulnerable population” in need of protection.
“This motion to recommit is simple, it’s clear, it’s direct. It clarifies the protection of vulnerable populations must include any unborn child,” McMorris Rodgers added. “Yesterday Chairman Pallone recognized the potential harm these chemicals can have on child development. Today, Speaker Pelosi reiterated the importance of protecting expectant mothers. By rejecting this amendment, you would be further denying the science of the development of a child in the womb.”
McMorris Rodgers did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
