Kansas House advances born alive baby protection bill

The Kansas House voted 88-34 Wednesday to pass a bill that would protect babies born alive during an attempted abortion. The bill now heads to the state Senate where GOP leaders have signaled it’s a priority, although Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed pro-life legislation before. The law would impose criminal penalties on doctors who do not treat an infant born alive during an abortion the same as other babies. There are similar laws in 18 other states. The federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 does not stipulate any penalties for refusing to help a newborn.

Are infants born alive often during abortions? Abortion centers in the United States are not required to report when an infant is born alive, but Canadian abortion facilities report that it happens in about one-tenth of one percent of abortions. If that percentage is directly applied to the United States, that would be about 700 to 900 babies left to die a year, according to the president of National Right to Life Carol Tobias.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report in the Doubletake podcast on the woman who was instrumental in the passing of the 2002 Born Alive Infants Protection Act.