Florida Governor Signs Anti-Infanticide Bill Planned Parenthood Opposed

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 5, 2013   |   12:03PM   |   Washington, DC

Florida Governor Rick Scott is today signing into law a bill the legislature unanimously passed that would provide medical care and legal protection for babies who are born alive after failed abortions.

Governor Scott said, “As a father and grandfather, there is nothing more precious or special than welcoming a new child into this world and by signing this bill, we are protecting the most vulnerable among us and affirming their rights as individuals. This legislation ensures common-sense measures are taken to help care for the babies who survive abortion procedures and grants those infants the same rights as infants who are born naturally.

“I also want to applaud bill sponsors Senator Anitere Flores and Representative Cary Pigman for their commitment to ensuring this bill became law. Representative Pigman is a U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel who is currently deployed in Kuwait and proudly serving our nation.  I was pleased he was able to join our event today via Skype so we could recognize his hard work on this legislation and for his selfless service to our nation.”

Lawmakers approved the measure despite opposition from the Planned Parenthood abortion business, which claimed it should be between a woman and her doctor as to whether a baby who survives an abortion attempt receives proper medical care and treatment.

At least 1,270 babies are born alive after botched abortions every year in the United States.

An AP report indicates: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott is visiting a children’s home in the Panhandle where he’ll sign a bill that requires medical care for newborns who survive botched abortions. Scott is scheduled to sign the bill Wednesday at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home located just outside of Pensacola.”

“The legislation (HB 1129) would penalize abortion providers who don’t provide medical care for infants born alive despite attempted abortions,” AP continues.

This is the same legislation President Barack Obama refused to support during his time in the Illinois legislature and it mirrors a national law President George W. Bush signed after nurse Jill Stanek exposed how her Chicago-area hospital left babies to die in utility closets after botched abortions.

The pro-life measure, HB1129, ultimately cleared the House Criminal justice Subcommittee despite opposition from the abortion giant. The bill would require that medical care be given to newborns, likely to be premature, who survive botched abortions. The care would be given at a hospital and not at the abortion clinic.

The Senate supported the bill on a 38-0 Senate vote.

Responding to the vote, Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest saluted the Florida Senate for unanimously passing legislation to protect infants born-alive following botched abortions. Earlier this month, Dr. Yoest testified in favor of the measure and observed that it provided Floridians with “real protections for children, alive and struggling for life, who deserve a chance.”

“Stories of children stabbed with scissors in Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion clinic and the LiveAction videos released this week show that infanticide is an on-going problem in America abortion clinics today,” said Dr. Yoest. “We also call upon states to enact AUL’s model clinic regulations which require abortion clinics to abide by the same basic medical standards as demanded of other out-patient surgical facilities. Florida legislators are an example to the rest of the nation of courageous leadership on behalf of Life.”

“The recent statements by Planned Parenthood’s Florida lobbyist illustrate just how fragile even the most humane legal protections for young children really are in America,” she told LifeNews

The Florida bill requires that, if an infant is born alive after an attempted abortion, the child must be immediately transported to the nearest hospital and given appropriate medical treatment. A born-alive infant would be entitled to the same rights and privileges as any other infant following a natural birth.

In opposing the bill and care of newborns who survive abortions, a Planned Parenthood lobbyist said “any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician.”

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Previously a national pro-life group released footage of an undercover video showing a Planned Parenthood staff member telling a pregnant woman than babies are left to die after induced labor abortions where the baby survives the abortion procedure.

The video shows the student going to a Title X, federally funded Planned Parenthood facility located in Freehold, New Jersey. A Planned Parenthood staffer describes how an abortion would be performed on a 22 week unborn child.

In the footage, the Planned Parenthood nurse describes to the pregnant woman that the abortion would entail delivering her son alive. After the woman asks if the baby can be born alive, the nurse admits that “it does happen…but it wouldn’t be able to survive on its own, so eventually the baby does die.”

Babies have been left to die before at abortion clinics — such as this one in Florida.