Protecting Infants Who Survive Abortion.(Born Alive Infant Protection Act, Wisconsin)(Editorial)

Editor's note. Since this op-ed was first written, Wisconsin's "Born Alive Infant Protection Act" passed the state Assembly 95-0. Proponents fully expect the state Senate to take up the measure this fall. What Gov. Jim Doyle will do if the law reaches his desk is unknown. Barbara Lyons is executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life.

Should infants who survive abortions be provided protection under the law? Most people are probably stunned that the question is even being asked. Are unborn babies aborted so late in pregnancy that they actually survive? Why aren't they already protected under the law?

Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly will debate and decide whether AB 372, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, will give these infants the protection they deserve.

It has been a long-accepted legal principle that babies who are born alive, regardless of their stage of development, are persons who are entitled to the full protection of the law. But, sadly, when it comes to living babies who have actually survived an abortion, it is unclear to some whether legal protection applies to them. They are often left alone to die without even the most basic comfort care.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart struck down a Nebraska law that prohibited late-term partial-birth abortion. Most people are shocked to learn that a baby can be killed just inches from full birth.

The Carhart decision has implications far beyond partial-birth abortion that are relevant to the debate over AB 372. Implicit in the court's decision is the notion that whether the child receives the protection of the law is dependent upon whether or not the mother wants the baby, not where the baby is located. A subsequent decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit also concluded that a child's status under law, regardless of the child's location, is dependent upon whether the mother intends to abort the child or give birth.

Under these hostile rules, pity the poor child who by some miracle escapes the abortion and actually lives! Even Roe v. Wade didn't go so far as to guarantee a dead baby.