ALBANY, NY — The U.S. House of Representatives  approved two long overdue measures Friday : One to strip federal funds from the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and the other to strengthen legal protections for infants born-alive during attempted abortions.

The Defund Planned Parenthood Act passed by a vote of 241-187.

The Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act passed by a vote of 248-177.

Nita Lowey, who represents Rockland County as well as parts of Westchester in the House, voted against these two bills.

The votes passed largely along party lines. Special condemnation is due to New York Rep. Richard Hanna (R-22), who was one of only three Republicans in the nation to vote against the defunding bill. Hanna was the recipient of Planned Parenthood’s Barry Goldwater Award in 2012. While Hanna did support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which makes it a crime to kill survivors of abortion, the congressman unfortunately chose to continue funding his abortion lobby backers.

More disturbingly, all Democratic representatives from New York who voted opposed protecting the lives of infants born alive during abortions. According to these representatives, these children are not entitled to medical care and it should be perfectly legal to overtly kill them.

Now the action moves to the Senate. The Senate will vote a second time to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. The first effort was derailed by a Democratic filibuster in August.

Prolife Senator Ben Sass (R-Neb.) has announced he will offer a Senate version of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on Monday.

He said: “If this isn’t the most non-controversial sentence in American politics, it’s time to check our national conscience: newborn babies must receive care and attention. Societies are judged by how we care for the vulnerable and surely anyone with a heart— regardless of where they stand on the abortion debate— should be able to agree that our laws should protect newborns. I’m grateful that a bipartisan majority of the House stood up for babies and I look forward to introducing companion legislation in the Senate next week.”