Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA01) voted for two “politically toxic” anti-abortion bills Wednesday despite having admitted on MSNBC earlier in the day that these types of bills do not represent the majority opinion of his constituents.
Fitzpatrick voted yes for the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” (H.R.26) and for “Expressing the sense of Congress condemning the recent attacks on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches” (H.Con.Res 3).
READ: Pennsylvania Abortion Clinics Are Seeing An Influx Of Out-Of-State Patients Seeking Abortion Care
House Democrats were quick to call out the legislation that Rep. Kathy Manning (NC-06) said “inserts politics into private family decisions … is an attempt to create a false and gruesome narrative” and is nothing more than an attempt to vilify and intimidate doctors and their patients.
As the New York Times pointed out, “Live births during an abortion procedure are exceedingly rare, experts said, and federal law already requires that a baby who survives an attempted abortion receive emergency medical care.”
Both pieces of legislation passed largely along party lines, with three Democrats voting yes for H.Con.Res 3. This resolution that Fitzpatrick also voted for seeks to exclusively protect “crisis pregnancy centers” of which many exist in Pennsylvania, are funded by taxpayer dollars, and have been supported by the Congressman, despite attacks surging against actual health care clinics that provide abortion care.
“Overall, the state has allocated tens of millions of dollars to Real Alternatives, a private nonprofit in Harrisburg that funnels money into crisis pregnancy centers,” reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.
READ: It’s Time To End Public Funding For Crisis Pregnancy Centers In Pennsylvania
“Such facilities advertise services offering pregnancy and parenting support to low-income women with the fundamental aim of dissuading them from getting abortions,” they wrote.
READ: Don’t Let Him Fool You, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick Is Anti-Choice
Prior to his votes Fitzpatrick joined MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell to peddle his moderate, bipartisan brand, specifically addressing abortion.
“First of all, abortion, let’s talk about that,” said Mitchell. “Do you believe that this is not the way to go,” she asked, calling the bills “politically toxic.”
READ: It’s Time To End The Brian Fitzpatrick Marketing Machine
Fitzpatrick said he agreed with his colleague from South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace who called these bills “tone deaf,” but then went on to vote for the bills shortly afterward.
