Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act: What is it, How it Could Be Potentially Dangerous, and Is It Even an Issue?

In the early weeks of the new Congress, Democrats filibustered the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. The filibuster reflects ongoing partisan divisions over abortion rights and women's reproductive health.

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is a piece of legislation that seeks to mandate medical care for any fetus that is "born alive" following an attempted abortion. While it is framed as a measure to protect infants, in practice, it serves as a political tool to restrict abortion access and criminalize healthcare providers.

• Requires healthcare providers to administer medical care to any fetus that shows signs of life after an abortion attempt.

• Establishes criminal penalties (including prison time) for doctors who fail to provide such care.

• Grants legal rights to the "born-alive" fetus, making any failure to provide medical intervention a potential violation of federal law.

Negative Impacts:

• Increased Trauma for Patients:

People seeking late-term abortions usually do so due to severe fetal abnormalities or risks to their own health. This law forces them into agonizing situations where nonviable fetuses are kept alive artificially, prolonging suffering.

• Legal Complications for Palliative Care:

In cases where a fetus is delivered but has no chance of survival, the law could prevent doctors from offering compassionate, palliative care and instead force them into painful, futile medical interventions.

• Weaponization Against Abortion Rights:

The bill perpetuates the false narrative that viable infants are being "killed" post-abortion, despite existing laws already protecting newborns.

Many cases covered by this law involve nonviable fetuses, meaning those with conditions like anencephaly (missing parts of the brain) or severe organ failure. Forcing medical intervention on these infants can:

• Prolong suffering with painful, unnecessary medical procedures.

• Lead to extensive organ failure without any meaningful quality of life.

• Place families in emotional and financial distress as they watch their child struggle in an ICU with no chance of survival.

Is This Even an Issue?

No. Infants born alive after an abortion are extremely rare, and existing laws already protect them. The 2002 Born-Alive Infants Protection Act already requires that any infant showing signs of life after birth be given medical attention.

In cases where this does happen:

“The study looked at the cases of 4,987 infants “without congenital anomalies,” or birth defects, born before 27 weeks gestation. It found that 5.1 percent of babies born at 22 weeks gestational age survived and 3.4 percent survived “without severe impairment.” Several weeks further into gestation, at 26 weeks, 81.4 percent of babies survived, 75.6 percent without severe impairment (The New England Journal of Medicine).”

Keeping a fetus alive, solely for the sake of keeping it alive, can often do more harm than good. Suffering due to political agendas is not living.

It is important that we look at these matters with the utmost empathy and compassion for not only the fetus, but the women and families as well. This can be especially traumatic for women who wanted to keep their baby, but could not due to medical reasons. This can be incredibly traumatic and a financial burden for all of those involved.

Lead your life with compassion.