Protecting Infants Who Survive Abortion

By Barbara Lyons

Editor's note. Since this op-ed was first written, Wisconsin's "Born Alive Infant Protection Act" passed the state Assembly 95-0. Proponents fully expect the state Senate to take up the measure this fall. What Gov. Jim Doyle will do if the law reaches his desk is unknown. Barbara Lyons is executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life.

Should infants who survive abortions be provided protection under the law? Most people are probably stunned that the question is even being asked. Are unborn babies aborted so late in pregnancy that they actually survive? Why aren't they already protected under the law?

Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly will debate and decide whether AB 372, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, will give these infants the protection they deserve.

It has been a long-accepted legal principle that babies who are born alive, regardless of their stage of development, are persons who are entitled to the full protection of the law. But, sadly, when it comes to living babies who have actually survived an abortion, it is unclear to some whether legal protection applies to them. They are often left alone to die without even the most basic comfort care.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart struck down a Nebraska law that prohibited late-term partial-birth abortion. Most people are shocked to learn that a baby can be killed just inches from full birth.

The Carhart decision has implications far beyond partial-birth abortion that are relevant to the debate over AB 372. Implicit in the court's decision is the notion that whether the child receives the protection of the law is dependent upon whether or not the mother wants the baby, not where the baby is located. A subsequent decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit also concluded that a child's status under law, regardless of the child's location, is dependent upon whether the mother intends to abort the child or give birth.

Under these hostile rules, pity the poor child who by some miracle escapes the abortion and actually lives! Even Roe v. Wade didn't go so far as to guarantee a dead baby.

Does this really happen? Testimony before Congress and the Wisconsin state legislature included eyewitness accounts of actual cases. Health care professionals have cited numerous grisly incidents of babies born alive after an abortion and brought to a "soiled utility room" where the babies would remain until they died. No efforts were made to even determine whether any could have survived with appropriate medical assistance.

One nurse described an aborted baby who was left to die on a counter in a hospital utility room. The baby was accidentally thrown in the garbage and later found by hospital personnel. Another nurse described a 23-week infant born alive after an abortion and placed in a specimen dish to be taken to the lab, even though the baby was gasping for air. The nurse named the child Baby Hope and held her for three hours until she died.

Does this happen in Wisconsin? In 1982, three infants survived abortions at hospitals in Madison. Anonymous calls from a courageous individual to Wisconsin Right to Life and the news media brought the tragedies to public attention, making these events major state and national news stories. The three infants received medical care, perhaps because their existence was publicly known, and subsequently died. Since that time, no one has stepped forward to report incidents in Wisconsin, but that does not mean they do not happen.

AB 372 simply states that every infant born alive after an abortion has the same legal status and legal rights under Wisconsin law as an infant born alive after a normal delivery resulting from a natural or induced labor or a Caesarean section. Drawing a bright line between abortion and infanticide, AB 372 is modeled after a federal bill enacted and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002. The federal law applies only to federal statutes and regulations.

Should a child's legal status and legal rights be dependent on whether the child is wanted by the mother? Should an abortion guarantee the "right" to a dead baby? The Wisconsin legislature is prepared to resoundingly say, "No." The only remaining question is whether Gov. Jim Doyle will sign this compassionate measure into law.

Reprinted with the author's permission.