Southern Baptist and other pro-life leaders applauded President
George Bushs signing of a measure providing legal protection to fully
delivered babies, even when abortion is intended.
The president signed into law the Born-alive Infants Protection
Act in an Aug. 5 public ceremony in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Southern Baptist and other pro-life leaders applauded President
George Bushs signing of a measure providing legal protection to fully
delivered babies, even when abortion is intended.
The president signed into law the Born-alive Infants Protection
Act in an Aug. 5 public ceremony in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The act clarifies a newborn child fully outside his mothers
womb is a person to be protected under federal law. This includes every human
infant “born alive at any stage of development,” according to the
new law.
The legislation especially targeted an abortion method in which
newborns who survive are allowed to die. The procedure, which nurses testified
is used at Christ Hospital in Chicago, is called live-birth abortion. In the
method, delivery is induced. If the baby survives the procedure, he or she is
left unattended to die.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics &
Religious Liberty Commission, thanked Bush in an Aug. 6 letter for signing the
legislation in a public ceremony and encouraged him to continue efforts to protect
all human life.
“We share your commitment to the sanctity of all human
life, from conception to natural death,” Land said. “We are dedicated
to work until the day that our culture truly is a culture of life.”
Ken Connor, president of Family Research Council, called enactment
of the newly-signed law “a watershed in the effort to roll back the abortion-on-demand
regime” established by the Supreme Courts 1973 ruling legalizing
abortion.
In a six-minute speech before he signed the bill, Bush said
the measure “establishes a principle in American law and American conscience
– there is no right to destroy a child who has been born alive. A child
who is born has intrinsic worth and must have the full protection of our laws.”
In addition to the live-birth abortion method, other techniques
also have resulted in babies surviving, only to be killed outside the womb or
allowed to die, according to reports from inside clinics.
The legislation did not stir up as much opposition as normal
pro-life proposals.
The Senate passed it by unanimous consent in mid-July, four months after the
House of Representatives approved the bill by voice vote. (BP)