Democratic senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) on Monday castigated Senate Republicans for attempting to protect children who survive abortions.
In a series of posts on social media, Brown lashed out for what he described as political posturing on the part of Republicans, specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who brought a vote on legislation mandating babies who survive failed abortions are given the same medical treatment as children born prematurely.
"Tonight's vote isn't about protecting women," Brown tweeted. "It's about scoring political points at the expense of women's health and freedom to make their own healthcare decisions."
Tonight’s vote isn’t about protecting women – it’s about scoring political points at the expense of women's health and freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. https://t.co/ZhzfaNFhAm
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) February 25, 2019
Shortly before voting with the majority of his Democratic colleagues to block the bill, Brown followed up on his initial tweet with a video in which he chastises McConnell by name.
"I'm heading to the Senate floor to vote no," Brown says in the video. "Mitch McConnell is playing games again. This time he's playing games with women's health and restricting women's right to chose."
"It's wrong, it's more divisive, bad politics," he adds. "Mitch McConnell should do something to help people get insurance, not take insurance, not take health care, not take choice away from women."
Women should have the freedom to make personal, private health decisions, and those decisions should be between them and their doctors, not their legislators. That’s true today, and every day. pic.twitter.com/x8q5sgHKL7
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) February 25, 2019
Brown, who is considering a 2020 presidential run, was one of 44 Democrats to vote against the measure in the Senate. Contrary to Brown's assertion that the bill would restrict a "women's rights to chose," the legislation has no impact on the practice of abortion or the precedent set down by Roe v. Wade.
As previously reported by the Washington Free Beacon, nearly 77 percent of voters back legislation to ensure children born through abortions receive the medical care necessary to survive.
Apart from opposing medical care for children who survive abortions, Brown is also one of the primary co-sponsors of the Women's Health Protection Act. The bill would effectively strike down any laws that "single out abortion providers with medically unnecessary requirements and restrictions, do not promote women's health or safety, and limit access to abortion services," according to the liberal Center for Reproductive Rights. Such broad guidelines would include measures that prohibit abortion after 20 weeks and laws preventing abortion as a means of sex selection.