Babies Born Alive After Abortion Can be Left to Die in 16 States

Family Research Council today released a first-of-its-kind set of maps showing the strength of born-alive abortion survivor protection laws and the legal status of late term abortion in every state. Protections for born-alive abortion survivors became a national conversation when New York and Illinois walked back their protections earlier this year, removing existing protections for infants born alive during failed abortion attempts.

According to research conducted by Family Research Council, only fifteen states provide strong protections for born-alive abortion survivors, and only eight require reporting on infants who survive abortion. The maps also show which states have no laws protecting born-alive abortion survivors, which states allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, and some surprising differences between those lists.

Sixteen states have no laws protecting born-alive abortion survivors: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Twenty-two states allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, either directly or indirectly: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Quena González, Director of State and Local Affairs at Family Research Council, said this was a direct result of what he called the “wave election” of 2010:

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“The 2010 election cycle saw a record number of state-level Republicans elected. Many of them were pro-life, and as their majorities in legislatures and statehouses across the country continued to increase throughout the Obama administration, they enacted pro-life laws at a record pace.

“One pro-abortion group estimates that more than a third of all pro-life state laws enacted since Roe v. Wade were enacted in the last nine years. These maps are a testimony to the dedicated work of pro-life state policymakers over the past decade to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us, and to the importance of elections,” concluded González.

Connor Semelsberger, Legislative Assistant for Pro-life Issues at Family Research Council, remarked:

“The patchwork of state laws protecting abortion survivors will not suffice. That is why it is necessary for the U.S. Congress to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Republicans in both chambers have taken the lead in pushing this bill through Congress, but due to Democrat obstruction this bill can’t even get a hearing, let alone a vote, in the House of Representatives.

“Family Research Council is committed to delivering 90,000 baby hats to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to send a clear message that babies that survive abortion must be protected. Now is the time for all elected officials to decide if they are going to stand up for the most vulnerable members of our society or to enable infanticide,” concluded Semelsberger.

To see what protections your state provides for born-alive abortion survivors, view the maps at:frc.org/prolifemap