Last week, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law a bill protecting babies born alive in botched abortions. Arizona now has some of the most comprehensive guidelines for what abortionists are required to do if a child is born alive during an abortion. According to the Arizona Capitol Times, the law expands on existing statutes, which say if there is a live birth it is the duty of any doctors in attendance to see that “all available means and medical skills are used to promote, preserve, and maintain the life of such fetus or embryo.” The new law includes the first-ever definition in statute of being “delivered alive.” Additionally, if the abortion takes place after the 20th week of pregnancy, the abortionist must ensure that someone qualified in neonatal care is available to care for the child if he or she is born alive.
Recent undercover video footage from the Center for Medical Progress demonstrates why these protections are so important. The video released last week shows Planned Parenthood abortionist DeShawn Taylor discussing infants born alive in abortions. Pro-Lifers have long known that the abortion industry subjects babies born alive in botched abortions to gruesome deaths by violence or neglect. The latest video from the Center for Medical Progress is a reminder of how ingrained in the abortion culture such chilling disregard for human Life is.
Disturbingly, anti-Life legislators in Arizona testified against the life-saving legislation, saying attempts to save the Life of a child born alive would only cause her to suffer before ultimately dying. The misplaced compassion of these lawmakers is nothing more than cognitive dissonance. The same anti-Life legislators concerned about the agonizing pain of a premature infant separated from his mother’s womb in a botched abortion claim not to be bothered by that same baby being ripped limb from limb while still alive inside the womb.
Furthermore, the suggestion that any baby born alive during an abortion will inevitably die is demonstrably false. As undercover video of abortionist DeShawn Taylor shows, Arizona abortionists commit abortions up to 24 weeks’ gestation and beyond. With advances in medical science, babies are surviving when born at just 22 weeks with little or no long-term complications. There is a chance to save these precious lives. Even more blatantly showing the falsehood of anti-Life claims, there are men and women alive today who survived attempted abortions. People like Gianna Jessen are living proof.
The most recent video from the Center for Medical Progress underscored the widespread abuse of the abortion industry. What Pro-Lifers have long known about the barbaric treatment of infants born alive in abortions was once again confirmed. Arizona’s new guidelines requiring abortionists to ensure that babies born alive do not suffer the gruesome death they escaped inside the womb once they are born alive. Although these protections do not yet extend to the preborn, they affirm the dignity of human Life and undermine the culture of death in the abortion industry. Arizona’s protections begin to address the widespread practice of infanticide and callous disregard for Life demonstrated most recently in undercover footage from the Center for Medical Progress.