In an unanimous vote, the Arkansas Senate passed a bill to require doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive after botched abortions.
The Associated Press reports state Senate Bill 148 passed in a 34-0 vote on Thursday. It now heads to the state House for consideration.
The bill requires healthcare professionals to provide the same medically appropriate care to infants born alive after abortions as they would to babies born prematurely. It also would require medical professionals to notify the mother and to call 911 if the birth does not occur in a hospital.
Penalties for violating the measure include up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Federal lawmakers are considering a similar bill, introduced by U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse in January, LifeNews reported.
Last year, the U.S. House passed the bill, but it did not move forward in the Senate. With Republican majorities now in both houses, the life-protecting measure appears likely to pass.
“Every baby deserves care and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is a rare opportunity to find common ground and protect newborns,” the Nebraska Senator said in a statement. “We all know that every little boy and girl deserves a fighting chance and, if you’ve ever held a newborn or just walked past a NICU, you know this has nothing to do with your politics and everything to do with your heart.”
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The bill would protect newborns who survive abortions by requiring appropriate care and admission to a hospital. When an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the bill would require health care practitioners to provide the same degree of professional skill and care that they would to any other infant at that stage of life.
Babies sometimes are born alive after failed abortion attempts. Nurse Jill Stanek became a nationally-known figure after she testified to Congress about finding a baby who was born alive after a botched abortion and left to die at a Chicago-area hospital.
Stanek’s experience shocked and horrified millions of people, and her testimony helped to pass the Born Alive Infants Protection Act under President George W. Bush. Sasse’s bill would strengthen this legislation.
In 2016, LifeNews reported a baby was born alive at a late-term abortion facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The baby later died at the hospital.
A 911 audio file, obtained by NBC 11 in Arizona, confirmed that abortion clinic staff saw the 21-week baby was alive and breathing before it died. Reports did not indicate whether the baby was a boy or girl.
One of the nurses said she saw the baby move more than 10 minutes after it was taken from the womb, according to KPNX 12 News. When the nurse took the baby to weigh it on a scale, she said she saw it move and struggle to breath. “Oh my God, this fetus is moving,” she said, according to police.
Though abortion advocates sometimes deny that babies survive abortions, LifeNews has documented dozens of cases of babies who were miraculously born alive and survived. Melissa Ohden, Gianna Jessen and Claire Culwell are just a few examples. The three women are strong pro-life advocates who speak across the country about how their lives are valuable, even though they almost were killed in the womb by abortionists.
