Punishing Healthcare Providers For Not Trying to Save Infants Who Survive Attempted Abortions (H.R. 4712)

What is H.R. 4712?

(Updated July 2, 2020)

This bill — known as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act — would require healthcare providers to give “reasonably diligent and conscientious care” to an infant born-alive following an attempted abortion. Providers would have to take appropriate steps to save the infant’s life given its age and health, and immediately transport and admit the infant to the hospital. Failing to comply with those requirements would be punishable by fines or up to five years in prison, and if a person’s actions actively lead to the death of a born-alive infant they could be tried for murder. The mother of the child couldn’t be prosecuted under this bill, as it only applies to healthcare providers.

If a healthcare provider, or an employee of a physician’s office, hospital, or abortion clinic knows about a failure to comply with these requirements, they are legally responsible for reporting the incident to a state or federal law enforcement agency.

Women who give birth to born-alive infants could file civil lawsuits against healthcare providers. The loser of the civil suit would pay the winner’s attorney’s fees, and legal awards could include:

• Compensation for physical and psychological injury.

• Statutory damages up to three times the cost of the abortion or attempted abortion.

• And punitive damages.

Argument in favor

Infants born following an attempted abortion have rights under the Constitution just like any other person. Healthcare providers who fail to provide the necessary medical care should be held criminally accountable, and charged with murder if the infant dies.

Argument opposed

Partisan politics and fear mongering, rather than legitimate legal or medical needs, are the motivation behind this bill. It would deter abortion providers from using procedures to keep a fetus intact so its tissue can be used for research.

Impact

Born-alive infants; women seeking abortions; healthcare providers; and federal and state law enforcement.

Cost of H.R. 4712

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) offered the following statement in announcing that the House will vote on Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) bill to punish healthcare providers that don’t offer care to infants born-alive following an attempted abortion:

“This bill states simply that if a baby is born after a failed abortion attempt, he or she should be given the same medical care as a baby born any other way, in line with our longstanding commitment to empower women, mothers will never be held criminally accountable. However, doctors who fail to provide medical care to newborns will be held criminally accountable. There is absolutely no ambiguity here. This is about protecting babies who are born and alive, and nobody should be against that.”

Blackburn chaired the House’s Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, which probed abortion providers and those acquiring tissue from aborted fetuses. It found that “researchers want fetal tissue from late-gestation infants that has not been tainted by feticidal agents” and that abortion providers “may modify abortion procedures, in apparent violation of the law, to increase the odds of getting an intact cadaver.” The report cited quoted Planned Parenthood doctors who discussed delivering intact fetuses for this reason, and concluded:

“Clearly, these factors increase the likelihood that unborn infants are born alive during late second-trimester abortions, and raise the question of whether these infants’ civil rights are recognized by abortion providers.”

This legislation has the support of 81 cosponsors in the House, all of whom are Republicans.

Of Note: The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002 after unanimously passing Congress, clarifies that for the purpose of federal law the terms “person”, “human being”, “child”, and “individual” include every infant born alive — whether the birth is the result of labor, c-section, or induced abortion. It doesn’t contain its own criminal penalties or enforcement mechanisms to hold abortion providers accountable for failing to provide medical attention and care to infants born alive.

Media:

• House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Press Release
• Townhall
• Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives Report (Context)