[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1706-E1707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        H.R. 4292: THE BORN-ALIVE INFANTS PROTECTION ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JACK QUINN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 5, 2000

  Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleagues in the 
House of Representatives for demonstrating their overwhelming support 
for H.R. 4292 last week. The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2000, 
which is designed to ensure that all infants who are born alive are 
treated as persons for purposes of federal law, passed the House with 
385 votes.
  It has long been accepted legal principle that infants who are born 
alive are persons and are entitled to the full protection of the law. 
In fact, many states have statutes that, with some variations, 
explicitly enshrine this principle as a matter of state law, and some 
federal courts have recognized the principle in interpreting federal 
laws. But recent changes in the legal and cultural landscape appear to 
have brought this well-settled principle into question.
  Babies whose lungs are insufficiently developed to permit sustained 
survival are often spontaneously delivered alive, and they may live for 
hours or days. Others are born alive following deliveries induced for 
medical reasons, or following attempted abortions. Enactment of H.R. 
4292 is necessary to ensure that all infants who are born alive are 
treated as legal persons for purposes of federal law.
  H.R. 4292 is proposed to codify (for federal law purposes only) the 
traditional definition of ``born alive'' that is already found in the 
laws of most states: complete expulsion from the mother, accompanied by 
heartbeat, respiratory, and/or voluntary movements.
  Although I was unable to vote on this legislation, I wholeheartedly 
support it and urge its enactment into law.

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