Curt Flewelling, FISM News
The Kansas House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed House Bill (HB 2313), otherwise known as the born-alive infants’ protection act. The bill now moves on to the State Senate where it is expected to easily pass.
However, Democrat Governor Laura Kelly could very well veto any such legislation as she has a long track record of such action when pro-life bills arrive on her desk. Despite Republican supermajorities in the Kansas State House and Senate, the Governor’s vetoes have withstood numerous override attempts in the past few years.
The bill, simply put, provides legal protections for infants who are born alive, regardless of the intent of the delivery. A similar law is on the books at the federal level, however, the Kansas bill has more teeth than the 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA).
BAIPA was a monumental victory for pro-life advocates as it assigned the words, “person”, “human being”, “child”, and “individual”, to every infant who is born alive at any stage of development.
The Kansas bill not only assigns “personhood” to these individuals, but it also creates criminal penalties and civil liability for healthcare providers who fail to render care to babies who survive abortions.
The bill defines an infant as “born alive” if it “breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles.”
PARTY DIVIDE
Democrats and Republicans are framing this debate very differently. Democrats are calling HB 2313 an abortion bill.
“Kansas spoke loud and clear on how Kansans would like to keep their healthcare decisions with a patient and their provider,” Representative Melissa Orpoza, (D-Kansas City), said.
Representative Ron Bryce (R-Coffeyville) answered his colleague.
“This is not an abortion bill… this only covers the messy aftermath of abortion.” He continued, “That’s where the state has the duty and the right to take care of the innocent,” Bryce said.
STANEK REVEALED THE HORROR
The decision whether to deliver medical assistance to infants surviving abortion has raged for nearly a quarter of a century. The practice of simply abandoning these newborns was brought to light by a courageous nurse named Jill Stanek.
Stanek testified before Congress about the goolish practice of inducing labor, delivering premature infants, and then simply allowing them to die from respiratory distress to immature lungs. The children were then whisked away to a back room to slowly pass away.
Stanek was actually reprimanded for comforting a suffering baby until he died in her arms 45 minutes later. She was subsequently fired by her employer, Christ Hospital, for allegedly taking photographs inside the hospital and misrepresenting the hospital in the media.
In all, 18 states currently have laws on the books that protect individuals who survive abortion.