UPDATE, 4/18/19: As expected, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed SB 359, which would have required that abortion survivors be Cooper, like other Democrats, continues to claim that children slated for death in abortion are already protected by law. And yet, there have been multiple reports of lawbreaking abortionists who commit infanticide after encountering the “dreaded complication” of a child born alive during an abortion procedure. “Laws already protect newborn babies, and this bill is an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients,” claimed Cooper. “This needless legislation would criminalize doctors and other health care providers for a practice that simply does not exist.”

Cooper is correct in that the law would “criminalize” infanticide, but he’s wrong when he claims it “simply does not exist.” Current federal law merely states that a child who survives an abortion is a person and full citizen entitled to equal protection under the law — but the law does not assign any criminal penalties whatsoever for anyone who does not provide medical intervention for that child after abortion.

4/16/19: The North Carolina House voted to pass Senate Bill 359 – known as the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” – on Tuesday by a vote of 65-46, according to The News & Observer. The Senate passed the bill on Monday in a vote of 28-19. It now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. He is expected to veto the bill.

The bill states that any baby who survives an abortion and is breathing, has a heartbeat or pulsation of the umbilical cord or definitive movement, shall receive the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” from the doctor that any other child of the same gestational age would receive. If a doctor fails to do so he or she could face prison time and fines.

“I can attest to the fact that infanticide has happened here in NC,” said Rep. Pat McElraft (R). “I’ve been witness to the result of those late-term abortions. […] Nurses told stories of babies who were born alive and were taken by the doctor and turned face down in the saline.”

READ: New poll finds majority of Americans support protecting abortion survivors

While opponents of the bill are quick to point out that killing a born baby is already a crime, Republican Rep. Sarah Stevens said that the bill ensures that abortionists aren’t covering up any killings. Unfortunately, they may very well be doing just that.

On May 13, 2013, abortionist Kermit Gosnell was convicted of the first-degree murders of three infants, but he killed many more. Witnesses say that in his “House of Horrors” abortion facility he killed viable babies who survived the abortion attempt by snipping the backs of their necks with scissors. This went on for years completely undetected because abortion facility inspectors were not doing their job.

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But Gosnell is not alone. In 2013, the former employees of abortionist Douglas Karpen alleged that he sliced and twisted the necks of viable babies born alive during abortions. There are graphic photographs to prove it.

Even the CDC states that at least 143 babies died between 2003 and 2014 after initially surviving botched abortions. That number is admittedly an underestimate since abortion facilities are not mandated to report these cases. An abortionist who is willing to kill a viable preborn child may also be willing to kill that child should she survive the abortion in order to protect his reputation. The only difference between killing a baby before birth and after birth is a matter of inches.

The News & Observer reports that “Democrats” think the true purpose of the bill is “to scare doctors away from providing abortions […] for fear that they could be charged with murder or fined $250,000 if anything goes awry.” If anything goes awry? How horrific to believe that something has gone wrong if a viable, healthy child doesn’t die as the adults in the room had wished.

Editor’s Note, 4/18/19: The title was updated to reflect the governor’s veto.

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