[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S205-S206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Cotton, Mrs. Hyde-
Smith, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Barrasso, Mr.
Risch, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Moran):
S. 204. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a
health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of
care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted
abortion; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, later today, I will introduce the Born-
Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, along with my colleague
Senator Lankford. It is a simple bill. It simply states that a baby
born alive after an attempted abortion is entitled to the same
protection and medical care that any other newborn baby is entitled to.
And you would think that it would be a simple ``yes'' vote from every
Member of this body, but unfortunately, that is not where we are.
Four years ago and then three years ago, the U.S. Senate took up this
bill, and almost every single Democrat in this body voted against it.
Just 3 weeks ago, the House of Representatives took up this bill, and
almost every single Democrat over there voted against it. Apparently
banning infanticide is now controversial because--let's be clear--that
is what we are talking about here.
Some Democrats have tried to cloak their opposition to this bill in
meaningless phrases about a private decision between a woman and her
doctor, but what is the decision we are talking about? We are talking
about whether or not a living baby, born after an attempted abortion,
should be provided with medical care or be left to die or, I suppose,
be killed outright by the abortionist. That is what we are talking
about. That is the ``decision'' Democrats are referring to. And that is
apparently the decision they think should be left up to patients and
their doctors--whether or not to let a living, breathing baby die.
The Senate voted on a previous version of this bill introduced by my
former colleague Senator Sasse 4 years ago when the Democratic Governor
of Virginia came right out and said you could keep a newly born baby
comfortable while you decided what to do with it--in other words, while
you decided whether to let the child die or, I guess, kill it or
whether to let it live. That chilling statement made it abundantly
clear that we needed to state explicitly that any baby, wherever he or
she is born, including in an abortion clinic, is entitled to medical
care. It is staggering that we have gotten to the point where we need
to debate this in Congress, staggering that this wouldn't be an
automatic ``yes'' vote from every Member of this body, but that is
where we are.
If anyone thinks that abortion isn't a slippery slope, that we can
somehow devalue unborn babies' lives while maintaining respect for
everyone else's, then I am here to tell them differently because the
Democratic Party has gotten to the point where its members not only
oppose legislation to protect unborn babies; they oppose legislation to
protect born ones as well. In Democrats' world, there are now
apparently two classes of born babies: the wanted ones born alive in
delivery rooms and the unwanted ones born alive in abortion clinics.
Apparently, only one of those classes of babies is entitled to the
equal protection of the laws.
Democrats talk a lot about abortion when they are talking about this
bill, but this bill, of course, would do absolutely nothing to restrict
abortion. It is not a bill protecting unborn babies; it is a bill
protecting born babies.
I do understand why Democrats are so worked up, though, because while
this bill may not do anything to restrict abortion, there is always the
chance that drawing attention to the humanity and dignity of the child
who has just been born will draw attention to the humanity and dignity
of the child who is about to be born--the child Democrats are
determined our laws should not protect. And Democrats are apparently so
determined to preserve the so-called right to kill unborn babies that
they are fully comfortable opposing a law that would protect born--
born--babies.
These are hard things to talk about, but they have to be said because
that is the reality of where we are right now.
[[Page S206]]
Roughly 50 percent of the U.S. Congress opposes giving the equal
protection of the law to born human beings if they happen to be born
alive following an attempted abortion.
Now, I think we are at a real inflection point as to where we want to
be as a nation. Do we want to be a country where the circumstances of
your birth determine whether or not your right to life is protected? Do
we want to be a country that endorses leaving living, breathing babies
to die, that discards born babies because they are, for a moment at
their birth, unwanted? I don't know. I think we are better than that.
We have to be better than that.
If we truly want to be a nation that protects human rights, that
stands for justice, that defends the vulnerable, then we cannot be a
nation that says it is acceptable to leave living, breathing, born
human beings to die in abortion clinics, that says there are two
classes of newborn babies and that only one of them deserves to be
protected. Every human being deserves to be protected, no matter the
circumstances of his or her birth.
I want to thank Senator Lankford for his leadership on this issue. We
will be working together to advance this legislation, and I pray that
sooner rather than later, we will get to the day when this bill will be
an automatic ``yes'' vote from every Member of this body.
Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 204
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Born-Alive Abortion
Survivors Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant,
the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws
of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of
such laws.
(2) Any infant born alive after an abortion or within a
hospital, clinic, or other facility has the same claim to the
protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or
for any person who comes to a hospital, clinic, or other
facility for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a
patient within its care.
SEC. 3. BORN-ALIVE INFANTS PROTECTION.
(a) Requirements Pertaining to Born-Alive Abortion
Survivors.--Chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1531 the following:
``Sec. 1532. Requirements pertaining to born-alive abortion
survivors
``(a) Requirements for Health Care Practitioners.--In the
case of an abortion or attempted abortion that results in a
child born alive:
``(1) Degree of care required; immediate admission to a
hospital.--Any health care practitioner present at the time
the child is born alive shall--
``(A) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care,
and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as
a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care
practitioner would render to any other child born alive at
the same gestational age; and
``(B) following the exercise of skill, care, and diligence
required under subparagraph (A), ensure that the child born
alive is immediately transported and admitted to a hospital.
``(2) Mandatory reporting of violations.--A health care
practitioner or any employee of a hospital, a physician's
office, or an abortion clinic who has knowledge of a failure
to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) shall
immediately report the failure to an appropriate State or
Federal law enforcement agency, or to both.
``(b) Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 years,
or both.
``(2) Intentional killing of child born alive.--Whoever
intentionally performs or attempts to perform an overt act
that kills a child born alive described under subsection (a),
shall be punished as under section 1111 of this title for
intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.
``(c) Bar to Prosecution.--The mother of a child born alive
described under subsection (a) may not be prosecuted for a
violation of this section, an attempt to violate this
section, a conspiracy to violate this section, or an offense
under section 3 or 4 of this title based on such a violation.
``(d) Civil Remedies.--
``(1) Civil action by a woman on whom an abortion is
performed.--If a child is born alive and there is a violation
of subsection (a), the woman upon whom the abortion was
performed or attempted may, in a civil action against any
person who committed the violation, obtain appropriate
relief.
``(2) Appropriate relief.--Appropriate relief in a civil
action under this subsection includes--
``(A) objectively verifiable money damage for all injuries,
psychological and physical, occasioned by the violation of
subsection (a);
``(B) statutory damages equal to 3 times the cost of the
abortion or attempted abortion; and
``(C) punitive damages.
``(3) Attorney's fee for plaintiff.--The court shall award
a reasonable attorney's fee to a prevailing plaintiff in a
civil action under this subsection.
``(4) Attorney's fee for defendant.--If a defendant in a
civil action under this subsection prevails and the court
finds that the plaintiff's suit was frivolous, the court
shall award a reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the
defendant against the plaintiff.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Abortion.--The term `abortion' means the use or
prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other
substance or device--
``(A) to intentionally kill the unborn child of a woman
known to be pregnant; or
``(B) to intentionally terminate the pregnancy of a woman
known to be pregnant, with an intention other than--
``(i) after viability, to produce a live birth and preserve
the life and health of the child born alive; or
``(ii) to remove a dead unborn child.
``(2) Attempt.--The term `attempt', with respect to an
abortion, means conduct that, under the circumstances as the
actor believes them to be, constitutes a substantial step in
a course of conduct planned to culminate in performing an
abortion.
``(3) Born alive.--The term `born alive' has the meaning
given that term in section 8 of title 1, United States Code
(commonly known as the `Born-Alive Infants Protection
Act').''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) The table of sections for chapter 74 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``1532. Requirements pertaining to born-alive abortion survivors.''.
(2) The chapter heading for chapter 74 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``PARTIAL-BIRTH
ABORTIONS'' and inserting ``ABORTIONS''.
(3) The table of chapters for part I of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to
chapter 74 and inserting the following:
``74. Abortion..............................................1531''.....
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect one day after the date of
enactment.
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