Current Bills in the States
The fact that babies are sometimes born alive after failed abortions is a harsh reality. In many states, abortion survivors do not enjoy the full legal protection afforded to other infants and many are simply left to die. FRC believes that an infant’s right to life-saving medical care should not depend on the circumstances of his or her birth.
That’s where Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Acts come in. These laws require that abortion survivors are given the same level of medical care as any other infant. They also require reporting on the number of infants who survive abortions and impose penalties for failing to provide necessary medical treatment in order to hold abortionists accountable.
Scroll through the list below to see Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Acts introduced across the United States this year.
If your state has an external link, click to take action and send a letter to your state legislators!
Further resources:
Born-Alive laws require that medical care be provided to infants born alive during an attempted abortion. In 2002, Congress passed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which clarified that infants who survive abortion are persons under the law but did not include any legal enforcement. In the ensuing years states have passed varying levels of born-alive protections to make up for the lack of federal enforceability.
Currently, 38 states have at least some born-alive protections. However, only 18 states have the three elements of strong born-alive protections, which are reflected in the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, currently pending in Congress:
- a requirement that practitioners must exercise professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life of infants who survive abortion;
- a requirement that surviving infants be immediately transported to a hospital and/or requiring the presence of a second physician during the abortion; and
- legal penalties for abortionists who do not comply.
At this moment, federal law and 32 states do not adequately protect the lives of infants who survive abortion.
Click on a state to see its born-alive protections
