Illinois Bill Protecting Babies Who Survive Abortions Gets Blagojevich Sig 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 30, 2005
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) — Governor Rod Blagojevich is known for seeking media attention with press conferences and press releases, but the governor’s office made no fanfare of a bill he signed earlier this month protecting babies who survive abortion procedures. On August 12, Blagojevich signed into law the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.
The bill became necessary when nurse Jill Stanek discovered medical staff at her facility, Christ Hospital outside of Chicago, were allowing newborn babies to die after failed abortions without providing them proper medical care.
The bill defines a newborn baby who survives an abortion as a human being and requires medical facilities to properly care for newborns whether they are birthed or are born after a botched abortion. The law becomes effective January 1.
"We are happy this law has finally been signed. It’s been a long time coming," Stanek told the Illinois Leader.
"It’s critical that all born alive babies are fully protected under both federal and state laws," Stanek, now the pro-life coordinator for Illinois Concerned Women for America, said. "The Born Alive Infants Protection Act will be vital to protecting babies and to reestablishing a ‘culture of life’ in Illinois."
Senator William Haine, a Democrat from Alton and the Senate sponsor of the measure, told the Illinois Leader, "We just want to afford any child who is born alive certain protections, however that birth occurs."
The act explains the term "born alive" as the complete expulsion or extraction from a mother, where the child is capable of pulsation, breathing or any type of muscular movements. The bill states that attachment to the mother’s umbilical cord does not affect a baby’s individual personhood.
President Bush singed a federal version of the bill into law three years ago after it passed through Congress with nearly unanimous bipartisan backing.
Until the Illinois legislature approved the bill this year, it passed through the state Senate in 2001 and 2002 but failed in the House.
Related web sites:
Illinois state legislature – https://www.ilga.gov
