Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
Key claim: The bill requires practitioners to give infants born alive after an abortion the same care as any other child of the same gestational age, mandate immediate hospital admission and law-enforcement reporting of noncompliance, and imposes criminal penalties (including murder liability) while barring prosecution of the mother and giving her a civil cause of action.
Abstract
(S6 · 119th Congress) Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must provide in the case of a child born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. Specifically, a health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as would reasonably be provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure the child is immediately admitted to a hospital. Additionally, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with the degree-of-care requirements must immediately report such failure to law enforcement. A health care practitioner who fails to provide the required degree of care, or a health care practitioner or other employee who fails to report such failure, is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. An individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder. The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive under this bill and allows her to bring a civil action against a health care practitioner or other employee for violations. Latest action (2025-01-22): Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 47. Record Vote Number: 11. (CR S294-295)
Why this matters
The bill would set a uniform federal standard of care for infants delivered alive during or after an abortion, backed by criminal liability for practitioners and a civil remedy for the mother, effectively regulating clinical decision-making around previability and later-term abortions. Supporters frame it as extending equal-protection and infant civil rights to born-alive children, while opponents argue existing homicide and child-welfare law already cover such cases and that the reporting and admission mandates could chill lawful care. The practical effect on patients, providers, and hospitals depends heavily on how ‘born alive’ and required interventions are interpreted in gestationally marginal cases.