February 19, 2008
Links to Barack Obama's votes on IL's Born Alive Infant Protection Act
I'm receiving more and more email requests for corroboration of Barack Obama's votes on IL's Born Alive Infant Protection Act as state senator. So I'm going to write a permanent post.
I'm also posting, right, an August 25, 2004, Chicago Sun-Times cartoon by Jack Higgins, printed on page 49, pictorially admonishing Obama for his opposition to Born Alive.
A package of Born Alive bills was introduced three times during Obama's tenure.
The cornerstone bill was the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which defined legal personhood. This definition was identical to the federal BAIPA which was drafted from the definition of "live birth" created by the World Health Organization in 1950 and adopted by the United Nations in 1955....
Here I will only post links to Obama's actions and votes on the cornerstone bill, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. The bill number changed every year it was reintroduced.
2001
Senate Bill 1095, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Go here to view Obama's "no" vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 28, 2001.
Transcript of Obama's verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001, pages 84-90
Obama's "present" vote on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001
2002
Senate Bill 1662, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Go here to view Obama's "no" vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 6, 2002. (ABC inadvertently coped bill #1663, a companion bill. The vote for the Born Alive bill, #1662, was identical.)
Transcript of Obama's verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002, pages 28-35
Obama's "no" vote on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002
2003
Senate Bill 1082, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Democrats took control of the IL Senate with the 2002 elections. They sent Born Alive to the infamously liberal Health & Human Services Committee, chaired by Barack Obama.
As can be seen on the Actions docket, Obama held Born Alive on March 6, 2003, from even being voted on in committee. It is also important to note from the docket that on March 13, 2003, Obama stopped the senate sponsor from adding the lately discussed clarification paragraph from the federal BAIPA, to make the bills absolutely identical.