The Biden administration is using a provision intended to protect abortion survivors as a way to dehumanize preborn children.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a proposed rule change, claiming that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) does not define what a person is. It referenced 1 U.S. Code 8 (1 U.S.C. 8), from the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, which reads:
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the words “person”, “human being”, “child”, and “individual”, shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.
Therefore, the proposed rule claims that this excludes preborn children from being classified as human beings, noting, “The Department understands 1 U.S.C. 8 to provide a definition of ‘person’ and ‘child’ that is consistent with the Department’s understanding of that term, as it is used in the SSA, HIPAA, and the HIPAA Rules and does not include a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus.”
The proposed change also states:
Thus, the Department proposes to clarify the definition of “natural person” in a manner consistent with 1 U.S.C. 8. In so doing, the Department would make clear that all terms subsumed within the definition of “natural person,” such as “individual,” which refers to a “person” who is the subject of PHI under the HIPAA Rules, is limited to the confines of the term “person.” The Department would also make clear that “natural person,” as used in the definition of “person” under the HIPAA Rules, is limited to the definition at 1 U.S.C. 8.
This is a brazenly cruel twisting of the intention of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, legislation that abortion supporters continue to argue is unnecessary on the claim that abortion survivors do not exist. Additionally, it’s a complete and utter denial of scientific fact. Based on all basic biological principles, preborn children are alive, even before their hearts start beating. At the moment of fertilization, the child — though a mere single-celled organism — already has his or her own unique DNA, with traits like sex, hair color, eye color, and countless more already determined.
It takes only two to three weeks for the child’s heart to begin beating. From their absolute smallest, preborn children are not “potential” human beings, but are living, growing people at the beginning of human development. To deny their humanity is to deny scientific fact.
“A majority of the scientific community knows when human life begins, and it is in the womb,” Tom McClusky, director of government affairs for CatholicVote, said. “The Biden administration would rather ignore the science to further their abortion idolatry.”
