(LifeSiteNews) — Babies who survive abortions will no longer be counted under a new Minnesota pro-abortion law that is now in effect.
Babies who survive abortion also have fewer rights after the state’s Democratic leaders passed the legislation that lessens the medical care requirements for those infants.
The new law removed a requirement that abortion reporting forms include information on “whether the abortion resulted in a born alive infant,” “any medical actions taken to preserve the life of the born alive infant,” “whether the born alive infant survived” and “the status of the born alive infant, should the infant survive.”
The law also changes the “reasonable measures” requirement to say that “medical personnel” should provide “care for the infant who is born alive.” There is no longer a requirement to “preserve the life and health of the born alive infant.”
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) criticized the change in an Aug. 1 statement.
“Minnesota lawmakers have revoked basic protection for newborn babies, and now the fate of newborns who survive abortion will be hidden from the public,” MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser stated. “Why do lawmakers want to keep us in the dark? This appalling extremism is not what Minnesotans asked for. Our elected officials must restore protection for newborns who are at risk.”
“In recent years, five born-alive infants were reported in 2015, five in 2016, three in 2017, three in 2018, three in 2019, and five in 2021, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. This information will no longer be available,” the group noted.
Democratic Party embraces infanticide
The change in the law is part of a trend of Democratic Party leaders embracing legalized infanticide as an official agenda item.
The use of the ambiguous word “care” reflects the comments by former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam who infamously appeared to endorse infanticide.
When asked in 2019 about a radical bill that would allow abortions one second before a baby was born, Gov. Northam reflected on his own experience as a pediatrician.
“So, in this particular example, if the mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen: The infant would be delivered; the infant would be kept comfortable; the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desire, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam stated.
Other Democratic leaders have also taken the official position that abortion should be available through all nine months of pregnancy without any limits at taxpayer expense.
Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois signed legislation to allow abortions up until the moment of birth. He also wants this enshrined into the state constitution, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.
Illinois is the place where then-state senator Barack Obama voted “present” in the state legislature on a bill to require basic care for babies who survived abortions. It is also where nurse and pro-life activist Jill Stanek testified that babies were left to die after “live birth abortions.”
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, vetoed commonsense legislation that would protect babies who are born alive during abortions.
In her April veto message, the leftist governor claimed the bill was “uniformly opposed by the medical community, and interferes with the relationship between a patient and doctor. It’s simply not the state’s role to make such difficult medical decisions for patients.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in September 2022 that could be interpreted to decriminalize infanticide, according to pro-life experts.
Matt Lamb
Matt has previously worked at Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action and Turning Point USA. While in college, he wrote for The College Fix as well as his college newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix. He holds a B.A. from Loyola University-Chicago and an M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He lives in northwest Indiana with his family.
