Arizona Senate passes bill to protect infants born alive during abortions

Arizona Senators passed a bill Thursday that would mandate the care of all babies born alive, including those born during botched abortions.

Senate Bill 1600, the “Born Alive Bill,” passed by a vote of 16-13. It requires hospitals and abortion facilities to keep abortion reporting records and provide life-saving measures to those infants born alive following an attempted abortion, regardless of the child’s stage of development. According to AZ Mirror, current state law only requires that abortionists provide life-saving measures to those babies born alive after 20 weeks.

“Any infant who is born alive, including one born during the course of an abortion, shall be treated as a legal person under the laws of this state and shall have the same rights to medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment,” the bill reads.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Janae Shamp. “I will always stand to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” she said.

The bill drew opposition from many Democratic lawmakers, who view it as an attack on abortion. “I agree in spirit with any legislation that supports medical intervention for viable babies,” said Sen. Eva Burch. “For pre-viable babies, there is no medical reason for that.” Burch added her opinion that providing medical attention to babies could be akin to “torture.”

“This bill does not help anybody, regardless of their political stance,” added Sen. Anna Hernandez. “Reproductive health care should not be legislated by any member of this chamber.”

Pro-abortion lawmakers, however, failed to discuss the vacuum suction, dismemberment, or lethal injections involved in abortion procedures as “torture”:

2nd Trimester Abortion - Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | With Fetal Development Information

Cathi Herrod, the president of the Center for Arizona Policy, praised the bill in a statement to LifeNews.

“Every baby deserves a chance at life. SB 1600 ensures all babies receive the care needed to give them that chance by prohibiting infanticide. An infant’s value is not based on his or her life expectancy, and health professionals should not be picking winners and losers,” she said.

“The Senate’s passage of SB 1600 along party lines tells you everything you need to know about which lawmakers refuse to draw the line before infanticide. The bill ends the inhumane practice known as ‘slow code,’ in which healthcare professionals withhold medical care to babies not expected to live long in order to hasten their death,” Herrod said. “SB 1600 is the least we can do as a civil society to protect the most vulnerable among us from unnecessary and inhumane death.”

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