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Florida Gov. Rick Scott Signs Infants Born Alive Act into law

 

By Dave Andrusko

Gov. Rick Scott

In many ways all you really need to know about pro-lifers and pro-abortionists was captured in the debate over Florida’s Infants Born Alive Act (HB 1139).
We have written many times about the law which was opposed by a Planned Parenthood lobbyist only to have PPFA grudgingly withdraw its opposition after a ferocious backlash.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law today. The Infants Born Alive Act states that an infant born alive “during or immediately after attempted abortion is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as any other child born alive in course of natural birth” and ensures an infant is “transported to a hospital.” A violation of the law is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

“Scott was joined by his wife Ann and pro-life supporters from around the state as he signed HB 1129 Wednesday afternoon at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home’s Pensacola campus in Cantonment, a nonprofit organization that supports pregnancy resource centers and children who are neglected, abused or abandoned,” the Miami Herald reported.
Scott said, “As a father and grandfather, there is nothing more precious or special than welcoming a new child into this world and by signing this bill, we are protecting the most vulnerable among us and affirming their rights as individuals. This legislation ensures common-sense measures are taken to help care for the babies who survive abortion procedures and grants those infants the same rights as infants who are born naturally.”

Scott also applauded “bill sponsors Senator Anitere Flores and Representative Cary Pigman for their commitment to ensuring this bill became law. Representative Pigman is a U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel who is currently deployed in Kuwait and proudly serving our nation. I was pleased he was able to join our event today via Skype so we could recognize his hard work on this legislation and for his selfless service to our nation.”

The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute took the occasion to lament that “more than 450 bills restricting access to abortion and family planning were introduced in 46 states so far this year,” according to Elizabeth Nash, the institute’s state issues manager.
“It isn’t about protecting women’s health or making abortion safe,” she complained. “It’s about adopting so many restrictions that providers won’t provide or women can’t access abortion services.”
Of course, only to the most ruthless pro-abortionists would guaranteeing that a baby who survives an abortion is not abandoned be a cause for distress.

But that heartlessness was of a piece with the utterly amazing comments Alisa LaPolt Snow, the lobbyist representing the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, made to the Florida House Civil Justice subcommittee.

(You can read about what happened in detail at “Florida Planned Parenthood opposes bill to treat babies who survive abortion like any other baby,”  and watch the exchange at myfloridahouse.gov.)
Suffice it to say here that no matter how many different ways subcommittee members asked the question, the answer was that what happens to an infant who somehow survives an abortion is nobody else’s business. This was perhaps the most revealing exchange:
“So, it is just really hard for me to even ask you this question because I’m almost in disbelief,” said Rep. Jim Boyd. “If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?”
“We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician,” Snow responded.

Planned Parenthood charged that the bill was “politically motivated.” In prepared testimony Planned Parenthood said

“It inserts politics where it doesn’t belong by implying doctors and women who end a pregnancy can’t be trusted. Legislation should not be created with the intent of coercing, shaming, or judging a woman or doctor. It is important that abortion remain a safe and legal medical procedure for a woman to consider with her doctor, if and when she needs it.”

So a baby survives an abortion and to require that this baby–who is no longer IN the woman—be treated like any other newborn is nothing but politics, “implying doctors and women who end a pregnancy can’t be trusted.”

What can that possibly mean? That the unsuccessful first pass should be treated like a mulligan. They’ll do a do-over to guarantee a dead baby.
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Source: NRLC News