Maryland Bill Would Legalize Infanticide, Babies Could be Left to Die Up to 28 Days After Birth

State   |   Father Frank Pavone   |   Mar 10, 2022   |   11:42AM   |   Annapolis, Maryland

A bill under consideration in the Maryland General Assembly appears to legalize infanticide.

The Pregnant Person’s Freedom Act of 2022, in addition to perpetuating the delusion that “persons” other than women can conceive and carry a child, includes the following ominous admonition:

“This section may not be construed to authorize any form of investigation or penalty for a person: … experiencing a miscarriage, perinatal death related to a failure to act, or stillbirth.”

“Perinatal death related to a failure to act,” is the most menacing line in this terrible bill. Perinatal is an imprecise word with many interpretations. The World Health Organization defines it as the period between 23 weeks’ gestation and seven days after birth. Other bodies say the perinatal period ends 28 days after birth. This is no place for the word fetus. This is a child, born alive and possessing every right that you and I enjoy.

But some Democrats in Maryland want to end that protection for vulnerable newborns, first by saying they can be killed by a “failure to act,” — for instance, withholding medical care, or nourishment, or a blanket — and then spelling out that neither the “person” who has the baby nor anyone who helps her can be subject to criminal or civil charges. Further, anyone who attempts to prosecute the pregnant person or her accomplice can be sued for damages.

This is what the bill says to me: A baby born alive, after an abortion or during a regular delivery, can be allowed to die within the first days of his or her life, possibly as long as 28 days, and no one will ever be charged with murder because, as the bill also states, “Nothing in this section shall be construed to confer personhood or any rights on the fetus.”

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Nearly identical bills were submitted in the House of Delegates and Senate and enjoy wide support among Democrats. Requests for comment from the bills’ sponsors, Del. Nicole Williams and Sen. Will C. Smith, were not immediately returned.

The Maryland media have been gleefully reporting on efforts to add the right to abortion to the state constitution, but the “Pregnant Persons” bill has gone without mention.

“The bill has just been shoved through because no one is paying attention,” said Maryland anti-abortion activist Ro Kane. “This is how evil our world has become.”

Olivia Summers, a lawyer with the American Center for Law and Justice, pointed out that Maryland — like every other state in the union — has a Safe Haven law that allows mothers to surrender their babies in a safe manner for a month after their birth, with no questions asked and no charges filed. But apparently Maryland Democrats would rather see these babies killed by a “failure to act.”

As Ms. Smith pointed out, abortion opponents will never forget hearing a Virginia delegate admit that her bill would allow abortion up to an including when the mother is in labor, or how then-Gov. Ralph Northam said a baby inconveniently born alive after an abortion would be kept “comfortable” while the mother and doctor decided his or her fate.

Maryland’s Pregnant Person’s Freedom Act would codify the inhumanity Northam gave voice to in that infamous interview.

“This is so satanic and so evil,” Ms. Kane said, urging pro-lifers all over the country to get involved. “We all have to get up and say something.”

The House of Delegates bill will be the subject of a hearing Friday, March 11, at 1 p.m. The Senate will hear the bill on March 15. Live coverage can be seen here on those days.