Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a new law Friday that will increase protections for babies born alive after a failed abortion.
The bill passed last week amid breaking news about a top Planned Parenthood official who was caught on video saying it “depends on who is in the room” as to whether a baby who is born alive after a failed abortion is taken to the hospital or left to die.
The Arizona Capitol Times reports Gov. Ducey signed the legislation on Friday, just two days after the legislature passed it. The new law strengthens existing requirements that babies born alive from failed abortions receive medical care. It goes into effect this summer.
Here’s more from the local news:
Under current law, if a baby is “delivered alive” during an abortion, it is the duty of any doctors present to see that “all available means and medical skills are used to promote, preserve and maintain the life” of the baby. “Delivered alive” isn’t currently defined in law, and medical experts have said that gives them flexibility to do everything possible to save the life of the fetus only if they believe it has a chance of surviving.
SB 1367 defines “delivered alive” as showing one or more of these signs of life: breathing, a heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation or definite movement of voluntary muscles. It requires the Arizona Department of Health Services to set policies that clinics, hospitals and physicians must follow to care for a baby delivered alive, including having neonatal emergency equipment and trained staff in the room for all abortions performed at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Rep. John Allen, R-Phoenix, shared the story of his daughter, whom he said was born with only one hemisphere of her brain. He said the bill’s intent is to give babies every chance at life.
“She speaks. She has life,” he said. “Nobody gave her any chance of living beyond a certain point. She’s a miracle.”
If the doctor determines that the baby’s death is “imminent” and further treatment would do nothing more than prolong the dying, the law does not require life-saving medical care, according to the Times. In these cases, doctors will be required to provide comfort care to ease the baby’s pain, and allow the mother to hold the baby, if she wants to.
Last week, the Center for Medical Progress released shocking new video footage of top-level Planned Parenthood leaders. CMP has exposed numerous abortionists and partner groups negotiating the harvesting and sale of the hearts, lungs, livers and brains of aborted babies for financial benefit.
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The latest video shows CMP investigators posing as buyers from a biotech company at an abortion conference. There, they are introduced to Dr. DeShawn Taylor, previous medical director of Planned Parenthood of Arizona.
Taylor explains to the investigators, “In Arizona, if the fetus comes out with any signs of life, we’re supposed to transport it. To the hospital.” When one investigator asks, “Is there any standard procedure for verifying signs of of life?”
Taylor replies, “Well, the thing is, I mean the key is, you need to pay attention to who’s in the room, right?”
Taylor then laughs as she repeats what the Arizona law requires, and says, “It’s a mess. It’s a mess.”
The new Arizona law hopefully will make it more clear that babies can’t be left to die.
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.
