Under the ‘Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,’ anyone who ‘knowingly performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive’ can be charged with first-degree murder
By:Anna Spoerre
Missouri Independent
Healthcare providers could face the death penalty if they don’t provide life-saving care to a baby born after an attempted abortion under legislation headed to Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe.
The legislation — approved by the House Wednesday on a 102-46 vote — has been a top priority of Republicans this year and was the only significant anti-abortion bill to pass this year with just two days left in the legislative session.
The bill faced a Democratic filibuster earlier this year in the Senate. Last week it was given a second opportunity when the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Brad Hudson of Cape Fair, agreed to remove language seeking to open the door for lawsuits against anyone involved in an illegal abortion, including medication abortion, as part of a deal with Democrats to pass it through their chamber.
On Wednesday, Republican state Rep. Brian Seitz of Branson told his colleagues that the latest iteration of the bill, which he was handling, shouldn’t be controversial now that the civil liabilities language was removed.
“The Democrats are putting themselves in a very dangerous political position by not supporting healthcare for a living child,” Seitz told The Independent ahead of the vote.
Despite being presented a pared-down version of the bill, the House on Wednesday quickly became embroiled in heated debate over the legislation’s purpose and practicality.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, called Seitz “a sad little man cosplaying as Superman when he’s not busy controlling women’s bodies.”
Seitz, who regularly wears ties with the Superman logo, responded by accusing Aune of “satanic mockery.” The exchange marked the culmination of a debate in which House Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of condoning the killing of babies and Democrats accused Republicans of political theater.
Under the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” anyone who “knowingly performs or attempts to perform an overt act that kills a child born alive” can be charged with first-degree murder.
In 2024, voters enshrined the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability in the Missouri Constitution. Viability is the point in pregnancy when a fetus can survive on its own outside the womb without extraordinary medical interventions.
Abortions are not currently being performed after the point of fetal viability in Missouri. With modern medical technology, it is exceedingly rare that an elective abortion performed after fetal viability ends in a birth.
Infanticide is illegal. But Republicans say the protections of the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 doesn’t go far enough in dictating what kind of care a baby should be given.
Several Missouri OB-GYNs have testified against the legislation this year, saying it could force a hospital’s legal team to get involved before a doctor can treat complicated pregnancy diagnoses, including the diagnosis of fatal fetal anomalies in which families choose to induce an early labor.
“What the bill really is doing is creating a threatening environment for medical providers who both must follow the law as well as the standards of their practice,” state Rep. Pattie Mansur, a Kansas City Democrat, said Wednesday.
Democrats argue the bill could have a chilling effect on medical professionals in a state that recently saw a 25% drop in applicants for OB-GYN medical residencies.
State Rep. Connie Steinmetz, a Democrat from Maryland Heights, said the bill was an unwelcome invitation by lawmakers into doctors’ offices.
State Rep. Deanna Self, a Republican from St. Paul, disagreed.
“The government should be in the doctors’ office to do everything they can to protect life,” she said.
State Rep. Ken Jamison, a Democrat from Gladstone, called the bill a “disservice to unborn children,” claiming that Missouri lawmakers’ “misguided obsession with abortion has caused neglect of prenatal care.”
“Meanwhile, unborn children in Missouri are screaming from the womb for prenatal care,” said Jamison, emphasizing the state’s growing maternal healthcare deserts. “ … The greatest danger to unborn children is not abortion, it’s miscarriage.”
State Rep. Bryant Wolfin, a Republican from Ste. Genevieve, raised concerns that the bill is unconstitutional because the Senate version tacked on two amendments broadening the scope of the state’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board and creating criminal provisions around cyberstalking.
Because of these additions, four Republicans voted against the bill last week, worried it violated a constitutional requirement that bills address a single subject “clearly expressed in its title.” Earlier this week, longtime anti-abortion lobbyist Sam Lee also declined to support the final bill, calling the changes a “poison pill” to the underlying legislation.
“Is the ‘Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act’ worth taking that risk?” asked Wolfin, who was ultimately one of two Republicans to vote against the bill.
Just ahead of the vote, several protesters with Abortion Action Missouri rose from their seats in the House’s upper gallery, chanting “When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back.”
They were quickly escorted from the chamber.
Missourians will again vote on abortion later this year after lawmakers last session voted to put a new abortion ban on the ballot.