The Supreme Court decisions Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton never said that anyone has a right to a dead baby. That is the fallacy perpetrated by those who are in the business of advocating for or providing abortion. The Supreme Court cases only said that the woman has a right to terminate her pregnancy. So the question becomes what is the moral responsibility when the pregnancy is terminated and a child is born alive having survived an abortion or attempted abortion?
That is, what happens when an abortion results in a live birth? What responsibilities and duties do the medical team who performed the abortion have to the newborn baby who is no longer dependent on the mother’s body for sustenance; the umbilical cord is cut, we have two separate human beings so the “My Body – My Choice” argument no longer applies?
The Born Alive Infant Protection Laws will affirm three things:
That a “physician patient relationship”[1] is established between the child who is born alive after an attempted abortion and the professional who performed the abortion,
The abortionist must help preserve the life and health of the child born at that gestational age with the same degree of professional care as someone who is a degreed physician.
The abortionist must take responsibility for failure to act upon, not only his moral, but legal duty, that is the abortionist has a responsibility to care for the child.
It is not sufficient for an abortionist to merely argue that they have no responsibility since only the mother was the patient. That argument denies the urgent responsibility that the abortionist has to the living, breathing newborn child.
To some extent, society must understand that the ancient practices of abortion and infanticide that were exercised in ancient times are not consistent with today’s proper understanding of human dignity. The idea of human dignity has progressed with the Judeo-Christian rejection of those barbaric practices.
Unfortunately, it would seem that many have rejected this truth and have reverted to ancient beliefs regarding human dignity. It has become apparent to many that when abortion was legalized it was only going to be a matter of time before infanticide was going to be acceptable to those who advocate for abortion. And so it would appear that common sense has taken a back seat of sorts and, as a result, this has allowed for the hideous notion of a so-called right to a dead child to arise. This type of law recognizes the reality that there is no right to a dead child, and a born alive child must be provided all the medical intervention any baby born at that gestational age.
[1] The term physician here refers to the medical professional who performed the abortion. Several states, including California now allow non-physicians to perform abortions, so the “abortionist” is no longer necessarily a physician. In California abortions can legally be performed by any medical professional with hospital committee approval and specialized training, including: Physicians, Surgeons, Nurse-midwives, Nurse practitioners, and Physician Assistants.
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