Video footage has emerged of a college student arguing that if a baby is born alive after a botched abortion, the child should be denied healthcare and allowed to die.

Pro-life activist Kristan Hawkins was speaking at Boston College, a private Jesuit-run university, last month when the pro-choice female student made the remark during a Q&A session.

'They were performing an abortion,' the unidentified student said of the hypothetical scenario. 'So, before that, they've already determined that it's not a baby.'

The remark comes amid renewed debate over late-term abortion, and echoes January comments made by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on the subject of babies born alive during botched abortions.

'They were performing an abortion,' the unidentified student said of the hypothetical scenario. 'So, before that, they've already determined that it's not a baby'

The exchange came during a Q&A session on March 19, when Kristan Hawkins (above) was speaking at the invitation of Boston College's Pro-Life Club

The exchange came during a Q&A session on March 19, when Hawkins was speaking at the invitation of Boston College's Pro-Life Club.

Hawkins is the president of Students for Life of America and has toured several universities speaking on the theme of 'Lies Feminists Tell'.

'Do you think that children that are apprehended at the border that are in U.S. government care…do you think babies who are going to die should be resuscitated and given care?' Hawkins asked the student.

'Yes,' the student replied.

'Okay. Do you believe that a baby who is born alive during an abortion at Planned Parenthood should get care?' Hawkins followed up.

The student replied, 'No.'

When Hawkins pressed the student on the difference between the two scenarios, the student said that a baby that survived an abortion was 'not a baby'.

Hawkins is the president of Students for Life of America and has toured several universities speaking on the theme of 'Lies Feminists Tell'

Although most of the students who asked questions during the Q&A criticized Hawkins, with one even rudely asking if she had ever had an orgasm, some were supportive of her pro-life stance, according to an account in student newspaper The Heights.

In recent months, the abortion debate has been renewed over speculation that a changing Supreme Court could overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, reverting jurisdiction over abortion laws back to individual states.

Ohio this week became the latest state to enact a 'heartbeat' bill, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected by ultrasound.

Anti-abortion activists hope that court challenges to these new state laws will go before the Supreme Court and establish a new precedent.

Meanwhile, New York in January passed a sweeping law legalizing abortion up until the moment of birth, and allowing non-doctors to perform abortions.

Hawkins and other pro-life protesters clash with pro-choice protesters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2016 in Washington, DC

Around the same time, Virginia Governor Northam, a Democrat, defended a similar bill in his state.

Northam, a pediatric doctor, described a hypothetical situation where a severely deformed newborn infant could be left to die.

He said that if a woman were to desire an abortion as she's going into labor, the baby would be delivered and then 'resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue' between doctors and the mother.

Late-term abortions are an emotionally charged subject on all sides of the issue, although they are relatively rare.

A 2014 CDC study found that 1.3 per cent of abortions in the U.S. occur during or after the 21st week of gestation.