WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation to spread misinformation in a brazen effort to ban safe and legal abortion. The bill adds extreme criminal and financial penalties against medical professionals and intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship. The law has always protected newborn infants from both intentional harm by health care practitioners and harm from negligence. In 2002, Congress passed the bipartisan Born-Alive Infant Protection Act to reiterate the fact.
“I support a woman’s right to choose. This anti-abortion legislation is deliberately misleading and perpetuates harmful myths about essential health care. Most alarming, it forces providers to act against their best medical judgment and make decisions out of fear, compromising the quality of care,” said Congresswoman Hayes. “Additionally, this bill falsely implies doctors and hospitals do not already act in the best interest of mothers and infants in an attempt to deceive the public and further a dangerous political agenda. My position has been clear and consistent; every woman deserves to make her own medical decisions with a provider without government intervention. I will continue to fight to protect reproductive freedom and ensure the health and safety of women and their families.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists strongly opposes the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act. A fact sheet on the bill can be found here.