Lawmakers in the Minnesota House Health, Finance, and Policy Committee approved two pro-life bills on Wednesday, including one that would protect infants born alive during attempted abortions.
Born Alive Protection Act
The Born Alive Infant Protection Act (HF 24) passed the committee by an 11-10 party-line vote, with all Democrats opposing the bill.
“This bill reinstates protections for babies that survive abortion, ensuring that they receive medically necessary care to preserve the life and health of that baby,” said Rep. Krista Knudsen in support of the legislation.
“That there are nefarious doctors out there aborting healthy-term pregnancies and that throughout that procedure something goes wrong — it’s a botched abortion — and we end up with a healthy happy baby that sits on the table and dies without anyone doing anything,” Stevens said, “that does not happen.”
Of course, Stevens’ portrayal is a straw man; no one is speaking only of infants in “healthy-term pregnancies,” nor is anyone claiming that only “healthy happy” babies are left to die of neglect; frankly, it doesn’t matter if they’re full-term or premature, healthy or sick. What matters is the fact that this is, indeed, happening — unless ACOG is denying the reports of multiple states each year which list the number of abortion survivors.
It is easy to refute this claim from ACOG, a known pro-abortion organization. Minnesota’s own abortion report from 2021 revealed that five babies were born alive following botched abortions in that year, yet all were denied medical care and died. At the time, the Minnesota Born Alive Infants Protection Act had passed (in 2015), and was in effect — yet was seemingly ignored.
Since that time, Governor Tim Walz signed legislation that stated that infants born after botched abortions no longer needed to receive lifesaving care, while also removing born-alive infant data from abortion reporting. The public no longer has any way to determine how many babies in the state survive abortion, and doctors are no longer legally required to provide lifesaving care to these most vulnerable infants.
The bill now heads to the full House floor for further debate.
Pregnancy Resource Center Funding
The second bill to pass the House Health Finance and Policy Committee was HF25, which would provide $3 million in grant money to pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), with another $1 million in funding to maternity homes. Abortion facilities and clinics that refer for abortions would not be eligible.
Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar, the bill’s sponsor, explained that the legislation is about ensuring pregnant women have as much support as possible.
“If there’s only one option, there’s not choice,” Zeleznikar said. “This bill is going to allow women to have the support to make the decisions they want.”
PRCs have long provided much of the support pregnant mothers need without promoting abortion, offering services like formula, food, diapers, baby clothes, car seats, furniture, prenatal care, parenting classes, housing assistance, and much more.
That bill, too, passed committee and now heads to a full House vote.
