In a stunning and unprecedented move, the Alabama Senate recently passed a resolution condemning freshman Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., for his vote Jan. 29 against banning late term abortions.
By voting against the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36), resolution sponsor and State Sen. Bill Hightower told reporters, Jones showed "hyprocrisy in claiming to be pro-life during his campaign for the United States Senate, while at the same time accepting campaign contributions from extreme pro-choice interests, and then voting with those pro-choice interests rather than the voters of Alabama who elected him."
With Jones' vote against a bill that would have outlawed abortions after 20 weeks, many Alabama political observers agree the Democrat has abandoned any semblance of even attempting to be pro-life.
Moreover, it was widely thought in the Yellowhammer State that Jones would vote to confirm U.S. Appellate Judge Bill Pryor — who has a solid conservative and pro-life record on the bench and as state attorney general — if and when President Trump named the Alabamian to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Given his vote on the late-term abortions measure, it is now considered highly unlikely Jones would ever vote to confirm Pryor to the high court.
During his successful run last year for U.S. senator against controversial Republican Roy Moore, Jones said he supported restricting late-term abortions.
More than a few pro-life voters gave him the benefit of the doubt — in part because they could not stomach the reports about Moore's alleged sexual pursuit of teenaged girls decades earlier — and assumed Senate Democrats would give Jones a pass on abortion-related issues.
But, following his vote in January, it is obvious they have not. Sixty votes were required to end the filibuster against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and advance the bill. The vote was 51-46 — with 44 Democrats including Jones voting no — and thus it failed to come to a vote.
During the campaign against Moore, Jones said "the law for decades has been that late-term procedures are generally restricted, except in the case of medical necessity. That's what I support."
"Sen. Jones owes the people of Alabama an explanation for turning his back on a campaign promise he made just a few months ago," Republican Hightower said. "More importantly, Sen. Jones needs to explain why he would turn his back on the basic humanity of an individual's right to life. At 20 weeks in the womb, it is not about a choice, it is about an innocent little baby's right to live."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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