James Talarico Refused to Support Bill to Stop Infanticide– www.lifenews.com

Texas Senate candidate James Talarico refused to support a 2019 Texas bill that would stop infanticide.

He refused to vote for legislation that required doctors to give life-saving medical care to infants born alive after an abortion, a measure pro-life lawmakers said was necessary to stop infanticide.

Talarico, then representing Round Rock and now the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate, recorded his vote as “present, not voting” on House Bill 16, the Texas Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. He did not vote yes to mandate that physicians treat a child who survives an abortion the same way they would treat any other infant born at the same gestational age.

Texas Right to Life gave Talarico a 0 percent pro-life score for the 86th Legislative Session. The group cited his present-not-voting stance on the born-alive bill and his opposition to expanding the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program.

The born-alive bill, authored by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, created criminal and civil penalties for doctors who withhold appropriate care. A physician who failed to act after a failed abortion could face a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a civil fine of at least $100,000. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measure, and it took effect Sept. 1, 2019.