Should there be new criminal penalties against abortion providers who failed to give medical attention in certain cases?
Bill Summary
This bill amends the federal criminal code to require any health care practitioner who is present when a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion to: (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure that such child is immediately admitted to a hospital. Whoever violates the code shall be fined or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. Whoever intentionally performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive shall be punished for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being. Sponsor: Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN-7]
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Opponents say
"Existing legislation, The Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, already requires that a fetus that survives an abortion is entitled to emergency medical care. Critically, the current law does so without undermining the rights protected under Roe v. Wade. In contrast, The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would not only roll back this carefully crafted bipartisan agreement reached in 2002, but it would also add new criminal penalties against doctors and clinicians as a scare tactic to discourage women from seeking safe, legal abortion." - Guttmacher Institute
Proponents say
"In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA), establishing that the terms “person,” “human being,” “child,” and “individual” in federal law include every infant born alive, even after an abortion. That law, however, did not contain criminal penalties or enforcement mechanisms to punish abortion providers who failed to give medical attention and care to these infants. This bill would address exactly that issue." - National Review
