The California Assembly committee has passed a radical bill that legal analysts say would legalize infanticide, letting babies die up to 28 after birth. The panel voted for the measure on an 11-3 vote.
California Assembly Bill 2223, sponsored by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, already has prompted massive outrage. While the legislation is meant to end criminal penalties for abortion, it could stop people from being punished for killing newborns as well. While hundreds of pro-life advocates showed up to oppose the bill, the main proponents are pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the ACLU.
The measure has come under fire from pro-life groups who say would prevent criminal liability if an infant dies during the perinatal period “due to a pregnancy-related cause” — which would essentially legalize the killing of newborn babies. The National Center on Health Statistics defines the perinatal period as between 28 weeks of gestation and seven days after birth but that definition can extend up to the 28 days.
The bill would prohibit authorities from charging a mother for “actions or omissions” related to her pregnancy, “including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.” Anyone who “aids or assists a pregnant person” also would be exempt from prosecution. Additionally, the bill would allow the woman to sue police and other authorities who arrest or charge her in such cases.
According to the California Family Council, the “perinatal death” language in the bill would exempt mothers who kill their newborn babies from prosecution.
ACTION ALERT: Contact the California Assembly to urge opposition to the bill.
Susan Arnall, vice president of legal affairs for the Right to Life League, told the committee during the debate: “A mother, her boyfriend or, for that matter, the babysitter, can starve or beat or shake a three-week-old baby to death and no one can investigate because under (the bill) it is a ‘perinatal death.’”
“For years, pro-life advocates have argued there is no moral difference between ending a child’s life days before birth or days after birth. California’s pro-abortion legislators now seemingly agree,” said Jonathan Keller, president of California Family Council. “A political culture that justifies killing millions of children in the womb is now declaring open season on unwanted newborns. Every Californian must oppose this heinous bill.”
The pro-abortion legislation would prohibit authorities from charging a mother for “actions or omissions” related to her pregnancy, “including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.” Anyone who “aids or assists a pregnant person” also would be exempt from prosecution. Additionally, the bill would allow the woman to sue police and other authorities who arrest or charge her in such cases.
However, pro-life advocates warned that the “perinatal death” language in the bill also would exclude mothers who kill their newborn babies from prosecution. The definitions of “perinatal” vary, but they all include newborn babies within the first week and potentially up to the first month of life outside the womb.
The sponsor has amended the bill but pro-life groups say the amendment doe snot solve the problem.
In an email, the Capitol Resource Institute encouraged pro-life Californians to contact lawmakers and urge them to vote against the bill.
“This is quite literally a matter of life and death,” the pro-life organization wrote. “This egregious bill would legalize the murder of newborn babies, so it is imperative that we use this opportunity to unite with one voice and to demand that this bill be rejected.”
The bill already passed one state Assembly committee earlier this month. No one spoke in favor of AB 2223 during the meeting, but more than a hundred individuals opposed it in person or by phone.
A state legislative analysis confirmed pro-life advocates’ concerns about the bill earlier this month, saying it could be interpreted to allow infanticide, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“As currently in print, it may not be sufficiently clear that ‘perinatal death’ is intended to be the consequence of a pregnancy complication,” the Assembly Judiciary Committee bill analysis states. “Thus, the bill could be interpreted to immunize a pregnant person from all criminal penalties for all pregnancy outcomes, including the death of a newborn for any reason during the ‘perinatal’ period after birth, including a cause of death which is not attributable to pregnancy complications, which clearly is not the author’s intent.”
Earlier this month, Wicks, the lead sponsor, lashed out pro-life advocates for exposing the problems in her bill, calling their alarm “absurd and disingenuous.”
“Anti-abortion activists are peddling an absurd and disingenuous argument that this bill is about killing newborns, when ironically, the part of the bill they’re pointing to is about protecting and supporting parents experiencing the grief of pregnancy loss,” she said in a statement.
Democrats control the California Legislature by a strong majority, and AB 2223 is one of eight bills that the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California identified as a legislative priority this year.
The California Future of Abortion Council, a coalition that Gov. Gavin Newsom established last year, also supports the bill.
ACTION ALERT: Contact the California Assembly to urge opposition to the bill.
