As conservative states continue to enact laws protecting America’s unborn, Democrat-led states are racing to do the opposite. In the last two months, radical abortion-related bills have been introduced in the two Democrat states of California and Maryland. If passed, each bill would defend an array of atrocities. Shockingly, each bill includes protections for “perinatal death.” The term is loosely defined, with some organizations defining “perinatal death” as the death of a baby up to seven days after being born, and other groups counting deaths up to one year after being born as perinatal deaths. Either way, there is absolutely no reason for said protections to be included in any legislation.
California’s A.B. 2223 would shield all entities from civil or criminal liability and penalties for any “pregnancy outcome.” This includes “miscarriage,” “stillbirth,” “abortion,” and “perinatal death.” This means that women who request abortions and those who perform them cannot be punished in any way, shape, or form. These protections also apply to instances of “perinatal death.” As previously mentioned, perinatal death extends days or even weeks beyond a child being born, meaning the legislation shields all parties involved in the death of a child after birth, commonly referred to as infanticide. The bill also amends sections of California’s Health and Safety Code relating to abortions to replace all references to the word “woman” with “pregnant person.” As if the legislation could not get any worse, the bill would protect those who commit self-induced or criminal abortions and ban coroners from investigating allegations of each. To quote the legislation, “This bill would delete the requirement that a coroner hold inquests for deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion, and would delete the requirement that an unattended fetal death be handled as a death without medical attendance. The bill would prohibit using the coroner’s statements on the certificate of fetal death to establish, bring, or support a criminal prosecution or civil cause of damages against any person.” A hearing in California’s State Assembly for A.B. 2223 is scheduled for April 5th, and further action will be taken on the bill at a later date in April. A.B. 2223 has been deemed a legislative priority by the California Future of Abortion Council, which is promoted by many prominent Democrat California legislators. This further increases the likelihood of the dangerous bill becoming law.
Maryland’s S.B. 669 and H.B. 626, titled “The Pregnant Person’s Freedom Act of 2022,” would ban both the investigation and criminal prosecution of all abortions, miscarriages, stillbirths, and perinatal deaths. According to the legislation, “This section may not be construed to authorize any form of investigation or penalty for a person: (1) Terminating or attempting to terminate the person’s own pregnancy; or (2) Experiencing a miscarriage, perinatal death related to a failure to act, or stillbirth.” This implies that instances of babies being born alive but dying days or weeks later can no longer be investigated, and criminal penalties cannot be enforced. The act even goes as far as authorizing anybody that is criminally investigated for a miscarriage, stillbirth, or perinatal death to bring civil lawsuits against the investigators. The legislation would also explicitly deny all rights to Maryland’s unborn and dehumanize them by claiming they are not people. To quote S.B. 669, “Nothing in this section shall be construed to confer personhood or any rights on the fetus.” Lastly, the bill would embrace the radical belief highlighted in California’s legislation that “people” get pregnant as opposed to just women. Maryland State Senator William Smith, the Democrat sponsor of S.B. 669, recently claimed he would remove protections for “perinatal death” from his bill. However, the protections still remain in H.B. 626. These protections are completely unnecessary since Maryland already has “safe haven” rules that protect mothers from criminal or civil penalties if they leave their baby with a “responsible adult” within ten days of giving birth.
The idea of protecting perinatal deaths circulating in California and Maryland sounds eerily similar to a statement that came from former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in 2019 when he suggested that babies should be allowed to be killed or “aborted” after birth. According to Northam, “If a mother is in labor…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 desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians & mother.” AMAC has also previously reported on a program at the University of Pittsburgh where researchers harvested organs from aborted newborns while their hearts were still beating. The alarming operations were able to occur due to over $3 million in taxpayer funds being given to the researchers by the National Institutes of Health. Comparable operations are still ongoing, with estimates suggesting that the NIH will spend a combined total of over $173 million on fetal experimentation between 2021 and 2022.
While California and Maryland are the only specific states currently seeking protections for perinatal death or infanticide, the six states of Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, have no limits on the time when a woman may obtain an abortion. Therefore, nearly one in ten Americans live in an area that has absolutely zero protection for the unborn or restrictions on their slaughter.
Conversely, conservative-led states are taking a different approach from radical Democrats and are instead unifying to support legislation in favor of life. Throughout the last year, at least four states have enacted legislation that defends the sanctity of human life at its earliest and most precious stages. The two states of Idaho and Texas have instituted “heartbeat” laws barring most abortions after a heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs after six weeks of pregnancy. The two states of Arizona and Kentucky also recently passed bills that outlaw most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, when the baby already has a heartbeat, brain activity, and gender, as well as all of his or her internal organs, muscles, bones, and limbs. Thus, approximately one in every eight Americans now resides in a state where most abortions are illegal after around six weeks or fifteen weeks. It should be noted that at least one chamber of the state legislature in the three conservative states of Florida, Oklahoma, and West Virginia has also passed legislation that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks.
As conservatives rally in favor of life, leftists seem to be unifying around death. This is evident by the pattern of radical bills being introduced in Democrat-led states and sane legislation protecting the unborn being ratified in conservative states. To support conservatives in this critical battle, be sure to vote for pro-life candidates across the ballot in the primaries and the November election!