Abortionist Yashica Robinson was sat just one seat away from Melissa Ohden, an abortion survivor.
More abortion extremism
What happens to babies born alive during abortions has been the subject of fierce debate in the US in recent months, as some states have passed extreme abortion bills and politicians have made horrifying comments about late-term abortion and infanticide.
Waste of resources
Last week, an abortionist testifying before a congressional committee made it clear just how little value the abortion industry places on the most vulnerable, saying that caring for babies born alive would be a "waste of resources".
Dr Yashica Robinson, of the Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives, spoke before a sub-committee of the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing entitled "Threats to Reproductive Rights in America".
One of the representatives asked her about the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act, which would require that infants who survive abortions be provided with the same level of medical care as any other baby born at that gestational age.
Dr Robinson responded that she would potentially provide that care for some babies but not for all of them.
"Generally, when there is a pregnancy that we induce in the third trimester, it’s for fetal indications," she said. "And in that case, those fetuses are not going to live outside the womb. They have medical diagnoses that would prevent that."
Dr Robinson claimed that babies are not born alive in Alabama abortion clinics, and laws already protect them if they do, "… but I would tell you if it ever did happen, I would say we should transfer those babies … and for those that are born because of fetal anomalies, they can’t live outside the womb so I would be against implementing any heroic measures in transferring to the hospital. It would be a waste of resources," she said.
Why do late-term abortions happen?
Abortion advocates often claim that late-term abortions are only carried out for so-called "fatal foetal abnormalities", but there is evidence that most late-term abortions in America are carried out on the healthy babies of healthy women. Diana Greene Foster, a well-known pro-abortion researcher at the University of California San Francisco, wrote in 2013: "… data suggests that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment. Indeed, we know very little about women who seek later abortions."
Late term abortions for disability have led to horrific cases such as that of baby Mohammed in the UK, who was born alive and crying but died in his mother’s arms after what was termed a "compassionate termination of pregnancy".
Abortion survivors exist
Dr Robinson’s dismissal of disabled babies left to die after abortion was all the more callous given the presence of an abortion survivor on the panel. Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infused abortion after a compassionate nurse rushed her to intensive care, countered the narrative that "people like me don’t exist or that children aren’t left to die after failed abortions…I was initially "laid aside," after my grandmother instructed nurses to leave me to die, and arguments about whether I would be provided medical care, ensued."
Actress Busy Phillips, who has been speaking out against recent laws restricting abortion, was unable to answer when a Congressman asked her if Melissa Ohden deserved a right to life.