Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act 

Background: First introduced by Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would simply require that babies born alive after failed abortions receive the medical care they need and deserve. It builds on the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, which clarified in federal law that “every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development” is a “person.” This law further clarifies that truth and takes it one step further to require medical care for these vulnerable lives.

Talking Points:

  • If Senators cannot support a limit on abortion after the point babies feel pain, surely they should be able to support a bill to protect born babies. 
  • It sounds hard but babies actually are born alive, because we permit extreme late-term abortions in this country.

o   The CDC estimates that between 2003 & 2014, at least 143 babies died after being born alive during abortions, and it is very possible that this estimate undercounts the actual number. 

o   Few states require reporting of statistics on children born-alive during abortion procedures. 

o   In 2017, in four states alone, at least 25 children were born alive during attempted abortions. (Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Oklahoma). 

o   Melissa Ohden and Gianna Jessen – both adults who survived an abortion attempt – faced multiple surgeries to remediate the harm done to them and have shared powerful testimony before Congress. Watch Melissa’s June 2019 testimony here.

o   Jill Stanek, a former nurse who witnessed babies born alive and left to die after failed abortions, has also shared her witness to advocate for the protection of these little lives. 

  • 77% of Americans believe babies born-alive should be protected. 
  • Failure to support these commonsense measures expose the extremism of the abortion industry and the Democratic party.
  • Sadly, the Democratic Party platform calls for abortion on demand, for any reason, until the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers – this stand is deeply unpopular. 
  • President Trump and pro-life members of Congress have fought to defend unborn children with strong, popular pro-life policies.


Additional Resources:

  • Fact Sheet: Science of Fetal Pain
  • Fact Sheet: Born-Alive Babies
  • Ignoring the Scientific Facts Doesn’t Make the Pain Go AwayPaper on the science of fetal pain by CLI Scholar Dr. Robin Pierucci, a clinical neonatologist 
  • Polling FactsheetLatest national polling on both bills
  • Practice Bulletin on Fetal Pain – paper from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
  • Reality of Late-Term Abortion Paper explaining reasons for late-term abortion by CLI Scholar Dr. Elizabeth Johnson. Key excerpt:For many years, abortion-rights advocates have asserted that abortions after 20 weeks are performed because of maternal health complications or lethal fetal anomalies discovered late in pregnancy. However, wider data from both the medical literature and late-term abortion providers indicates that most late-term procedures are not performed for these reasons…[a] study, published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, a journal of the Guttmacher Institute, marks a notable departure from previous statements by abortion rights advocates that late-term abortions were rarely elective.  Authors Foster and Kimport highlight the characteristics of women seeking abortion at or after 20 weeks gestation.  The authors acknowledge that, in fact, wider “data suggests that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” The study explores reasons for delay in seeking abortion services, comparing first-trimester and late-term abortion groups.  While there are numerous limitations to the study, the authors suggest that the characteristics of women who seek both first-trimester and late-term abortions are substantially similar.”

SOURCE: Susan B. Anthony