House creates criminal penalties for doctors who don’t protect abortion survivors
The House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that would impose criminal penalties on doctors who don’t administer proper medical care to infants who survive abortions.
Under the bill, which passed largely along party lines with Republicans in support, any doctor who fails to provide appropriate care to an infant who survives abortion can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
{mosads}Supporters of the bill argue it adds “teeth” to current law, which already requires medical professionals to administer emergency medical care to infants that survive abortions.
Abortion-rights supporters and Democrats argue such incidences are rare and the bill is duplicative of current law.
The law is unlikely to make any progress in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass.
The House vote coincided with the March for Life, an annual march against abortion in Washington, D.C.
President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will both give remarks at the march, with the president’s coming via livestream.
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