A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Monday recommends that abortion facilities nationwide be inspected and investigated, the Christian News Network reports. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is the main sponsor of the resolution, and is joined by 10 co-sponsors, including senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas. While it does not hold the same weight as a federal law, the resolution serves as a statement that "[e]xpress[es] the sense of the Senate that Congress and the States should investigate and correct abusive, unsanitary and illegal abortion practices." It cites the egregious procedures of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell as one of the motivating factors for the measure. The resolution proceeds to decry what it calls the "grossly unsanitary and dangerous conditions, violations of law regarding storage of human remains, and, above all, instances of willful murder of infants born alive by severing their spinal cords" at Gosnell's abortion facility. The resolution also focuses on "protecting the lives of unborn children beginning at least from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain." The senators remark that such measures are "long overdue" and must be enacted now "for the sake of women, children, families and future generations." Lee told reporters the he believes the resolution will pass Congress, but it is too soon to predict any actual outcome.
